In July 2023, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used the provocative phrase, “The era of global boiling has arrived,” to call out the situation where global warming cannot be prevented. You may recall that it was reported that the global average temperature in 2023 was the highest on record. In addition, a paper published in Nature Climate Change in February 2024 showed a shocking prediction that global warming will be faster than expected, rising by 2°C by the late 2020s, which is 20 years earlier than the IPCC forecast. The probability of abnormal climate is said to double when the global average temperature rises by 2°C and quadruple when it rises by 3°C. Working on global warming prevention is an urgent issue that cannot be postponed. Universities are strongly required to make academic contributions from the social sciences and humanities in order to achieve both environmental conservation and economic growth, as well as to make natural science contributions such as the elucidation of global warming mechanisms and the development of renewable energy.
On the other hand, the concepts of Socially Responsible Investment (investment based on consideration of environmental and human rights issues) and ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) as a first step to addressing pollution and other issues have spread to companies, which are central to economic activities. Companies are now required to actively engage in environmental and social issues in order to achieve long-term growth.
In addition to the training of academic researchers, Meiji University Graduate School has the role of training highly specialized professionals of whom society has high expectations. It consists of 12 graduate courses, each of which offers a specialized curriculum that meets the needs of the times while observing its core principles. It also provides opportunities for learning beyond the boundary of each graduate school and broader social experience, such as cross-curricular curricula, various research projects, and social cooperation and contribution activities, etc. Under the principle of “Empower the Individual” and the slogan of “Go Forward” to unlock the future, Meiji University aims to advance cooperation with others in all aspects of society and cultivate strong individuals who will transform the world. In the graduate school, students are required not only to acquire knowledge and skills in their own fields of expertise to establish their individuality, but also to culture themselves and study languages that enable them to understand positions and ways of thinking that differ from their own with a broad perspective so that they can develop flexibility and tolerance to accept complex and different things. I hope that the students will build a basic value standard that will bring back their individuality and unlock the future as a knowledge professional, by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the graduate school and actively seeking opportunities on their own to accumulate a variety of experiences.
Japan has been stuck in low growth for many decades, and its global competitiveness, as measured by various economic indicators, has generally been declining. However, as it is said that universities are public entities, we have the mission of realizing social welfare in all times through the creation of knowledge and the production of human resources to support it. Meiji University Graduate School will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through the development of global human resources who will transform the times.
Dean, Graduate School
INUI Koji
Professor