United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, has appointed Distinguished Professor Steven Ratuva, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) Pro-Vice Chancellor Pacific and Director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, to an expert group to write the 2027 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR).
Distinguished Professor Ratuva is one of fifteen eminent scientists and social scientists from around the world to be selected.
The GSDR serves as an ‘assessment of assessments’ providing governments and policymakers with state-of-the-art research on sustainable development that can support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The report is mandated by the UN General Assembly to inform the SDG Summit, which takes place every four years. The next SDG Summit in September 2027 will consider how to advance sustainable development by 2030 and beyond. The group will provide expert advice on the next global development pathway after the current SDGs expire in 2030.
Distinguished Professor Ratuva said it was an honour to be selected by the UN Secretary-General. “To be tasked with developing a new sustainable development pathway to progress achieving the SDGs, and to look beyond the SDGs as well, is a privilege. I look forward to working with some of the leading scholars in the world and to bringing an interdisciplinary and Global South focus to this very important work that addresses some of the most serious challenges facing humanity today.”
Distinguished Professor Ratuva, a former Fullbright fellow and an award-winning and prominent interdisciplinary scholar in the areas of political sociology, development studies, social anthropology and social history was appointed after an extensive open selection process. He was nominated by the International Science Council.
He is Foundation Chair of the International Political Science Association’s research committee on Climate Security and Planetary Politics and recently chaired the International Conference on Social Science in Bangkok. He has also been an expert project assessor for the International Science Council, leading international research teams in the areas of ethnicity, global security, social protection and climate crisis, which have resulted in a series of books. Over the years, he has carried out policy consultation and advisory work with international and regional agencies including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Commonwealth Secretariat and the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Secretary-General has appointed a diverse group of scientists representing a wide range of disciplines, expertise, and geographic backgrounds. The group includes:
Phoebe Koundouri (Greece) – Co-chair; Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business & University of Cambridge, President World Council ENREA; Chair SDSN Global Climate Hub; Director AE4RIA
Adedoyin Adeleke (Nigeria) – Co-chair; Executive Director, Green Growth Africa Sustainability Network
Marianne Beisheim (Germany) – Senior Researcher, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)
Vanesa Castan Broto (Spain) – Professor of Climate Urbanism, University of Sheffield
Yensi Flores-Bueso (Honduras) – Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Cork
Sarah Cook (United Kingdom) – Professor, University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Hussam Hussein (Jordan) – Research Associate, University of Oxford
Mmaki Jantjies (South Africa) – Group Executive, Innovation and Transformation, Telkom South Africa
Sherif Kamel (Egypt) – Dean, Onsi Sawiris School of Business, American University in Cairo
Milica V. Matijević (Serbia) – Senior Research Associate, Institute of Comparative Law
Steven Ratuva (Fiji) – Director, Macmillan Brown Center for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury
Fabio Veras Soares (Brazil) – Researcher, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Development
Eliane Ubalijoro (Rwanda) – CEO, The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF); Director General, ICRAF
Taidong Zhou (China) – Vice President, Center for International Knowledge on Development
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