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A new report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) outlines how industrial hemp can contribute to the United Nations framework for a sustainable and equitable future for all. The report, “Industrializing Hemp to Advance the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),'” suggests academia is critical to addressing gaps in research and education about industrializing hemp and illustrates hemp’s versatility to advance global health.GHI Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships & Development Calyn Ostrowski led the seed project funded by the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment. She used the SDGs as the analytical framework to evaluate industrial hemp’s benefits and create recommendations for multi-disciplinary research, outreach and education for catalyzing hemp as a solution to sustainable development.“Industrializing hemp is harvesting a new moment in health care, agriculture, energy, banking, technology, policy making and more,” Ostrowski said. “As hemp unleashes a flood of potential to improve our human and planetary health, medical professionals are requesting training and evidence-based research to inform patient care. Farmers are looking for diversity of crops, access to genetics, and new ways of agriculture to combat climate change and feed the future. Governments are looking for ways to curb their carbon footprint while increasing GDP.” The project convened diverse partners from across UW-Madison and experts spanning agriculture, health care, policy and industrial hemp. On June 21, a panel of stakeholders joined GHI’s Global Health Tuesday webinar to introduce the report, with Ostrowski moderating. Watch the full webinar here.