Lubbers semi-retired from active politics and became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, he also served as a distinguished visiting professor of international relations and globalization at the Tilburg University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government of the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts from February 1995 until December 2000.

Following his retirement Lubbers continued to be active in the public sector and worked as an advocate, lobbyist and activist for humanitarian, conservation, environmentalism, sustainable development and climate change issues.

During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for major reforms to social security, stimulating privatization and sustainable development, revitalizing the economy following the recession in the 1980s and reducing the deficit.

Lubbers was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 31 January 1995 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 78.

As suggested by the title of his 1962 thesis – "The influence of differing productivity trends in various countries on the current account of the balance of payments" – his main interest was in monetary affairs.

His career got an unexpected boost when the leader of the parliamentary faction of the CDA, Willem Aantjes, had to resign in 1978 because of accusations that he had served in the Germanic-SS during the Second World War.

Major aspects of his time in office included extensive cutbacks in public spending, the launch of far-reaching deregulation and privatisation programs, and a massive demonstration in The Hague (1983) against the planned installation in the Netherlands of nuclear-armed U.S. cruise missiles (which was cancelled after all due to arms reduction talks between the US and the Soviet Union).

At the end of the year 2000, Lubbers was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan to succeed Sadako Ogata as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

From 1 January 2001, Lubbers headed the UNHCR, which comprised over 5,000 employees who work across the globe, and which was concerned with an estimated 21 million refugees and internally displaced in over 120 countries worldwide.

[7] On 2 June 2004, the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which was tasked with investigating the accusation, sent its report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"[11] Lubbers asked Max van der Stoel, former High Commissioner on National Minorities, to comment on the confidential report.

[15] The Secretary-General failed to order an investigation of the deliberate leaking by OIOS itself to the media as recommended by Max van der Stoel.

In February 2005, the case was in the news again when the British daily newspaper The Independent obtained a copy of the OIOS report and, accompanied by an article by Kate Holt, published its contents.

[20] In October 2005, Annan reiterated that he had come to the conclusion that "the evidence did not support the accusation" but that, because of ongoing media-pressure, Lubbers' resignation was in the best interests of the UNHCR.

[22] In a formal statement, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called the departure of Lubbers "bitter", since the complaint against him had been dismissed as unsustainable.

[26] The UN General Assembly passed resolution A/RES/57/306, 'Investigation into sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers in West Africa' in May 2003, requiring the UN to take action at the highest level to tackle such abuses.

[36][37] Among the world leaders who offered condolences were former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev,[38] Prime Minister of Russia and former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev,[39] Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel,[40] Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Prime Minister of Portugal and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres,[41] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi[42] and President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker.