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As the only gateway governing nucleocytoplasmic transport, the nuclear pore complex (NPC) maintains fundamental cellular processes and deteriorates with age. However, the study of age-related roles of single NPC components remains challenging owing to the complexity of NPC composition. Here, we demonstrate that the central energy sensor, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), post-translationally regulates the abundance of the nucleoporin NPP-16/NUP50 in response to nutrient availability and energetic stress. In turn, NPP-16/NUP50 promotes transcriptional activation of lipid catabolism to extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans independently of its role in nuclear transport. Rather, the intrinsically disordered region (IDR) of NPP-16/NUP50, through direct interaction with the transcriptional machinery, transactivates the promoters of catabolic genes. Remarkably, elevated NPP-16/NUP50 levels are sufficient to promote longevity and metabolic stress defenses. AMPK-NUP50 signaling is conserved in humans, indicating that bridging energy sensing to metabolic adaptation is an ancient role of this signaling axis.