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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) awarded the degree of Doctor of Social Science, honoris causa, to Professor Jeffrey David Sachs at an honorary degree conferment ceremony on 3 October, in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments and dedication to advancing sustainable development and combating economic inequality globally.

Jeffrey Sachs is a Professor at Columbia University and the Director of its Center for Sustainable Development. He is widely recognised for drastic and effective strategies to address complex challenges including debt crises, hyperinflation, the transition from centrally planned to market economies, the control of AIDS, malaria and other diseases, escaping from extreme poverty, and the battle against human-induced climate change.

He developed a bold and successful strategy to end Bolivia’s hyperinflation in 1980, and negotiated a drastic reduction in its external debt. His successes in helping with economic recovery prompted Poland’s post-communist leaders to ask him to draft an economic blueprint for its transition from planned to market economy. He was also called on by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and then Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Professor Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres from 2001 to 2018. He helped design the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were launched in 2015, to build on the Millennium Development Goals. He is President of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). With the support of Professor Sachs, CUHK is the co-host of the SDSN in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The chapter has been doing its part to address the interlinked economic, social and environmental challenges in Hong Kong.

Professor Sachs was the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership, and the 2022 Tang Prize for Sustainable Development. He has twice been named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. The New York Times called Professor Sachs “probably the most important economist in the world”. A survey by The Economist ranked Professor Sachs among the three most influential living economists.