On October 5, in Kyoto, Japan, the 2025 Science, Technology and Society Forum was held together with the Regional Action on Climate Change Symposium, where Prof. Phoebe Koundouri served on the International Advisory Committee. Since 2009, RACC has advanced local climate action through knowledge networks connecting science and policy.
Last year’s symposium focused on oceans, producing a consensus statement published in Sustainability Science and presented at COP29. This year, RACC17 explored the vital link between climate change and food security — a defining challenge for our shared future.
In her Plenary Session on “Socio-economic Impacts on Food Security and Vulnerable Regions,” Prof. Koundouri presented AE4RIA – the Alliance of Excellence for Research and Innovation on Aephoria and SDSN Global Climate Hub research on integrated systems analysis connecting land degradation, climate change, and food security across Europe. She outlined how the Hub develops science-based pathways toward climate neutrality and resilience through satellite-based monitoring, land-use modeling, and socio-economic data. She also shared FABLE Consortium framework results, modeling global food–land–climate pathways and demonstrating that sustainable land use is key to both climate adaptation and food security — and must be embedded in long-term policy and fiscal planning.
In addition, as chair of the session on “Key Social, Economic and Technical Innovations that Could Mitigate These Threats and Challenges,” Prof. Koundouri presented the framework of the forthcoming UN Global Sustainable Development Report 2027, which she co-chairs. She emphasized the need for multi-dimensional innovation — combining social, technological, and economic transformation — to achieve sustainable and equitable growth, highlighting circular economy models, education for sustainability, renewable energy, AI, nature-based solutions, and green finance as key enablers of systemic change.
