ACUNS Annual Meeting 2025 & ANUMDI Dialogue
This year’s meeting will explore the intersections of environmental governance, social justice, and economic development while addressing the triple planetary crisis: climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Submissions are now open under a range of thematic categories. Do not miss this opportunity to engage in critical discussions, share your research,…
23 June 2025@
Location
Host/Contributor
This year’s meeting will explore the intersections of environmental governance, social justice, and economic development while addressing the triple planetary crisis: climate change, nature loss, and pollution. Submissions are now open under a range of thematic categories. Do not miss this opportunity to engage in critical discussions, share your research, and network with experts shaping a just and sustainable future at the 2025 ACUNS Annual Meeting on 23-25 June 2025.
If you haven’t registered, please use this link to register for virtual and in-person participation: https://acuns.org/annual-meeting-2025/. If you have any questions while registering, please contact Saadwi ([email protected]) from the ACUNS Secretariat team.
See details on the Academic Council on the UN System website
ACUNS Annual Meeting 2025
Environmental Multilateralism & Human Development | Nairobi, Kenya | Monday, 23 June – Wednesday, 25 June 2025
The 2025 ACUNS Annual Conference in Nairobi will address the triple planetary crisis—climate change, nature loss, and pollution—within the context of increasing global conflict and deepening inequalities. As the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and home to the UN Environment Assembly, Nairobi serves as the global center for multilateral deliberations on environmental governance. This year’s theme highlights the critical role of multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the forthcoming Global Plastics Treaty, in addressing these interconnected crises. The conference will explore how multilateralism must evolve to integrate environmental and social justice, focusing on inclusivity, transparency, and consensus-building. Discussions will examine the intersections of environmental sustainability, social justice, and economic development and explore the roles of small states, Indigenous communities, international organizations, and civil society in shaping a resilient and just future. Participants will assess the challenges and opportunities in strengthening global agreements and addressing the disproportionate impacts of environmental degradation on vulnerable populations while also examining how environmental governance can contribute to conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and global stability.
Find details here
GGIN’s ACUNS Spotlight
The Global Policy Dialogue (GPD) on the Triple Planetary Crisis and Future of Environmental Governance, held as part of the ACUNS Annual Meeting 2025 in Nairobi, brings together global experts and policymakers to assess the failures of fragmented climate, biodiversity, and pollution. These sessions closely align with the launch of the Global Governance Innovation Report 2025, the Pact for the Future monitoring panel, and civil society dialogues, collectively driving actionable, evidence-based policy proposals for COP-30, the G20 Summit, and the Pact’s implementation review. Zoom links are linked to each panel title.
- GPD 1: Tues 09:00 – 10:15 | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable One: Global Governance of Climate
- GGIR25: Tues 10:30-11:45 | Global Governance Innovation Report 2025 Launch
- GPD 2: Tues 14:15 – 15:30 | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable Two: Global Governance of Biodiversity and Nature
- PMT: Tues 14:15 – 15:30 | Pact for the Future – The Critical Need to Measure Progress
- GPD 3: Wed 08:30 – 09:45 | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable 3: Global Governance of Pollution and Waste
- C4UN: Wed 10:00 AM – 11:15 | The Power of Civil Society in Shaping the UN System
- GPD Plenary: Wed 12:30 – 13:30 | Global Policy Dialogue: Readouts & Feedback
Global Policy Dialogue on Environmental Governance and Climate Action
Building on the Global Governance Innovation Network’s annual series, this year’s Global Policy Dialogue at the ACUNS Annual Meeting will speak specifically to themes of environmental governance and climate action, with an eye to better governing and preserving our planetary boundaries. To participate in the Global Policy Dialogue, you must be registered for the ACUNS Annual Meeting.
Objectives:
- To expand the knowledge base for more capable global institutions to better cope with existing and emerging environmental challenges and to create new opportunities through effective global action, including with scholars, policy researchers and advocates, and the private sector.
- To convene leading policy researchers, practitioners, and advocates to debate and recommend specific global institutional, policy, legal, normative, and operational innovations that could follow through the agenda of the Pact for the Future, adopted by the United Nations Summit of the Future in September 2024.
- To make targeted recommendations for mobilizing support and operationalizing global environmental commitments–including the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda, and others–in shifting geopolitical climates.
TUE-A14 In-Person Roundtable, 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM, Room | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable One: Global Governance of Climate
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9413380122?pwd=UGN0SXFwWk9hUU9qcmUxVG51RG5jUT09
- Rebekah SHIRLEY, Deputy Director, World Resources Institute Africa
- Maja GROFF, Convenor, Climate Governance Commission
- David PASSERELLI, Director, UNU Centre for Policy Research
- Maria Ivanova, Northeastern University
- Edna Ramirez Robles, University of Guadalajara Law School (Spokesperson)
- Richard PONZIO, Global Governance Innovation Network and Stimson Center (Moderator)
- Maria KISUMBI, Humanity United (Moderator)
TUE-B1 Hybrid Roundtable, 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM, Room | Global Governance Innovation Report 2025 Launch
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9413380122?pwd=UGN0SXFwWk9hUU9qcmUxVG51RG5jUT09
- Nudhara YUSUF, Global Governance Innovation Network and Stimson Center
- Richard PONZIO, Global Governance Innovation Network and Stimson Center
- Rebecca Snyder, Stimson Center
- Edna Ramirez Robles, University of Guadalajara Law School
- Stephen Browne, University of Geneva
- Joris Larik, Leiden University
- Alice ODINGO, (Moderator) University of Nairobi and Vice President, ACUNS
TUE-C9 In-Person Roundtable, 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM, Room | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable Two: Global Governance of Biodiversity and Nature
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/2785604588?pwd=aWl6VUN4SXJlNEQyL0ptRlVwejNtUT09
- David OBURA, Founding Director, CORDIO East Africa and IPBES
- Julia SEIXAS, Nova University
- Viviana PORTO CEL, Plataforma CIPÓ (Spokesperson)
- Sebastien TURBOT, Earthna Institute (Moderator)
- Alanna O’MALLEY, Leiden University (Moderator)
- Anja Olin-Pape, Global Challenges Foundation (Moderator)
WED-A1 Hybrid Roundtable, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM, Room | Global Policy Dialogue Roundtable 3: Global Governance of Pollution and Waste
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9413380122?pwd=UGN0SXFwWk9hUU9qcmUxVG51RG5jUT09
- Franz BAUMANN, President, ACUNS
- John BELLISH, Executive-Director, One Earth Future Foundation
- Alice ODINGO, University of Nairobi and Vice President, ACUNS
- Shuva RAHA, Council on Energy, Environment & Water
- Maria STOICHEVA, Sofia University
- Luanda Mpungose, South African Institute for International Affairs (Spokesperson)
- Nudhara YUSUF, Global Governance Innovation Network and Stimson Center (Moderator)
- Diego SALAMA, Managing Editor, Global Governance (Moderator)
- Embla Bergström, Global Challenges Foundation (Moderator)
Second Annual Meeting of ANUMDI: The African Research Network to Advance Regional and Global Governance
BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
From 4-6 March 2024, a group of scholars and policy advocates from across Africa and the world gathered in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss the future of Africa and African perspectives for the UN Summit of the Future, held from 22-24 September 2024 in New York. The Africa Summit of the Future Dialogue, organized by the Abuja-based Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) with the support of the Washington DC-based Stimson Center and eighteen other African and global partner institutions, drew together scholars and practitioners from Africa and friends across the globe to discuss and consider regional and global governance innovation proposals for the benefit of Africa and other regions.
The conference examined in-depth the implications for Africa from the performance of regional and global institutions in five thematic areas, namely: i) Peace, Security, and Defence; ii) Sustainable Development and Democratic Governance; iii) Human Rights and Humanitarian Action; iv) Climate Governance; and v) Rules-based World Order and the Place of Africa in Global Governance. For each group, women, youth, technology, and culture serve as cross-cutting issues.
At the close of the Africa Summit of the Future Dialogue, the Abuja Declaration was adopted by participants with recommendations on the future of Africa-wide and global governance. The conference further initiated a network of African Researchers to pursue the implementation of its recommendations and encourage research on the development and advocacy of new African policy perspectives to advance regional and global innovation. During a follow-on strategy session at the United Nations Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future (held from 9-10 May 2024 at the UN Centre in Nairobi), the group was subsequently named“ANUMDI,” a unique and evocative acronym combining words in the Swahili (from East/South Africa), Hausa (from West Africa), and English to denote“African Network for Regional and Global Governance Innovation.”
On the sidelines of the the Academic Council on the UN System Annual Meeting, partners will convene a Second Annual Meeting of ANUMDI immediately from Sunday, 22 June 2025 until mid-afternoon on Monday, 23 2025 on the theme of“Advancing the Summit of the Future, G20, and AU’s 2063 Agendas: The Role of African Scholars and Policy Advocates.”Besides leveraging the ACUNS Annual Meeting 2025, ANUMDI aspires to engage closely with both the South African-led Think Tank 20 (T20) network in support of the South African-chaired G20 in 2025, as well as support with applied research and policy dialogue the initiatives of His Excellency Philemon Yunji Yang of Cameroon, Seventy-Ninth President of the General Assembly (September 2024 – September 2025).
Objectives:
- To convene leading policy researchers, practitioners, and advocates from Africa and around the world to debate and recommend specific regional and global institutional, policy, legal, normative, and operational innovations that could inform the agenda—and help to raise the ambition—of the G20 South Africa Summit (22-23 November 2025) and follow-through to the September 2024 Summit of the Future and African Union’s 2063 agenda, giving special attention to African perspectives and innovation priorities.
- To further develop the new ANUMDI platform for African policy researchers, scholars, and advocates to critically discuss and advance policy research on“What Africa Wants” and the type of relationship the Continent needs to have with the United Nations, G20, and international financial institutions.
- To strengthen the African Union, African Regional Economic Communities, G20, and UN system collaboration, including through the Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact, Declaration on Future Generations, and New Agenda for Peace.
Other sessions to be aware of:
TUE-C1 Hybrid Roundtable, 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM, Room | Pact for the Future – The Critical Need to Measure Progress
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4022192355?pwd=bmD6IzJOQfIuWqSZsRmqF7NWxhQN0V.1
- Kuniko ASHIZAWA (Chair), American University
- Dan ODABA, Institute for Economics and Peace
- Cristina PETCU, UN Mission in South Sudan
- Mark JOHNSON, New School for Social Research
- David PASSARELLI, Director, UN University Centre for Policy Research
- Rebecca SNYDER, Stimson Center
- Michael COLLINS, Institute for Economics and Peace
WED-B6 In-Person Roundtable, 10:00 AM – 11:15 AM, Room | The Power of Civil Society in Shaping the UN System
Join here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4737241546?pwd=V1lkS3JXR000TzRQM2laajhVdDF3QT09
- Carole AGENGO (Chair), Coalition for the UN We Need | Co-Chair, 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi
- Themba KALUA, Director, Pact of the Future Implementation, Executive Office of the UN Secretary General
- Nudhara YUSUF, Global Governance Innovation Network and Stimson Center
- Wanjiru KANYIHA, ImPact Coalition for International Financial Architecture Reform and Financing for Development
Registration Details:
If you have any questions while registering, please contact Saadwi ([email protected]) from the ACUNS Secretariat team.
For those attending the meeting in person who are unable to pay the membership and registration fee via electronic means, you may make a cash payment for Registration and Membership onsite at the 2025 Annual Meeting. U.S. dollars and Kenyan Shillings will be the only form of cash payment that will be accepted onsite at the Annual Meeting. If you would like to pay the membership and registration fee in cash onsite at the Annual Meeting, please complete this FORM.
Scholars supported by the ANUMDI Secretariat are encouraged to register by contacting Abigail Oderinde at [email protected]
Facilitating Travel to Kenya:
The Government of Kenya, through the University of Nairobi, wants to ensure that all travellers coming into the Annual Meeting will be able to efficiently proceed through the Kenyan Customs once individuals land. They have asked that each in-person attendee complete the following form. The goal is to ensure we get through the Airport quickly. The form is HERE.