London – The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), global higher education analysts, have listed Auckland University 10th in the world in their inaugural QS world university rankings on sustainability.
The new framework evaluates how universities are taking action to tackle the world’s most pressing environmental and social issues.
QS evaluated more than 1300 higher education institutions meeting specific eligibility requirements[1] and 700 of those appear in this ranking.
The University of California, Berkeley is named the global sustainable leader, achieving top scores in both the environmental impact and social impact categories, each contributing 50 percent of the overall score. the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. The top rankings are:
| QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2023: Top 20 | ||
| 2023 | Institution | Country |
| 1 | University of California, Berkeley (UCB) | United States |
| 2 | University of Toronto | Canada |
| 3 | University of British Columbia | Canada |
| 4 | The University of Edinburgh | United Kingdom |
| 5= | The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) | Australia |
| 5= | The University of Sydney | Australia |
| 7 | The University of Tokyo | Japan |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | United States |
| 9 | Yale University | United States |
| 10 | The University of Auckland | New Zealand |
| 11 | Uppsala University | Sweden |
| 12 | Lund University | Sweden |
| 13 | University of Glasgow | United Kingdom |
| 14 | University of California, Davis | United States |
| 15 | Aarhus University | Denmark |
| 16 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom |
| 17 | Western University | Canada |
| 18 | Newcastle University | United Kingdom |
| 19 | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom |
| 20 | Harvard University | United States |
The United States dominates the rankings, with 135 ranked universities (19.2 percent of the total), including thirty among the top 100, while the
United Kingdom is the second-most represented country, with 67 universities ranked (9.5 percent), including twenty among the top 100. Germany is the third-best for overall representation, with 39 universities. The New Zealand rankings:
| New Zealand Universities in QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 Rank | Institution | Overall | Environmental Impact (50 percent) | Social Impact (50 percent) | Sustainable Institutions | Sustainable Education | Sustainable Research | Equality | Knowledge Exchange | Educating for Society | Employment & Opportunities | Life Quality | ||||||||||
| Score | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | Score | Rank | ||
| 10 | The University of Auckland | 85.1 | 87.2 | 5 | 84.7 | 43= | 74.8 | 18 | 95 | 5 | 89.1 | 77 | 90.8 | 30= | 62.2 | 263 | 97.8 | 6 | 81.5 | 68 | 84.3 | 121= |
| 47 | University of Otago | 73.3 | 70 | 37 | 70.4 | 130= | 49.6 | 117= | 90 | 10 | 69 | 213 | 93.9 | 19 | 53.4 | 327= | 77.1 | 94 | 54.6 | 252 | 71.1 | 208= |
| 95 | University of Canterbury | 63.7 | 71.3 | 29 | 45.1 | 309= | 57.8 | 61 | 88.9 | 11 | 64.2 | 241 | 64.2 | 250 | 15.3 | 501+ | 69.1 | 152 | 60.4 | 192= | 20.5 | 501+ |
| 116 | Victoria University of Wellington | 61 | 57.6 | 96 | 54.6 | 232 | 49.6 | 117= | 72.4 | 45= | 52.3 | 304 | 82.8 | 72= | 31 | 501+ | 66.8 | 168= | 60.1 | 195= | 18.2 | 501+ |
| 125 | Massey University | 60.5 | 56.3 | 104 | 55.3 | 224= | 47.7 | 157= | 77.6 | 22 | 41.3 | 374 | 87.1 | 52 | 43.2 | 417= | 52.6 | 273= | 49.5 | 304= | 40.2 | 382 |
| 221-240 | University of Waikato | – | 52.1 | 122= | 34.2 | 414= | 36.2 | 276 | 80.9 | 21 | 36.2 | 407= | 69.5 | 199 | 9.7 | 501+ | 39.1 | 371= | 45.4 | 341= | 19.3 | 501+ |
| 261-280 | Auckland University of Technology | – | 35.3 | 301= | 37.8 | 377= | 41.5 | 223 | 43.9 | 281= | 28 | 480 | 87.6 | 48 | 15.7 | 501+ | 32.2 | 434= | 38.3 | 407= | 13 | 501+ |
| 381-400 | Lincoln University | – | 39.8 | 244 | 20.3 | 501+ | 45.4 | 185= | 50 | 206 | 29.6 | 462= | 54.4 | 347= | 4.9 | 501+ | 12.6 | 501+ | 35.3 | 441= | 33.9 | 422= |
The country’s eight universities all ranked among the top 400. New Zealand is at the forefront on biodiversity and conversation efforts, and it exerts an influential presence on the global stage when it comes to the intersection of climate and trade, as illustrated through various recent Free Trade Agreements signed between the country and the EU and the UK, which included robust and enforceable climate commitments.
Aotearoa universities Zealand performed particularly well under the environmental Impact category.
Lincoln University ranks among the world’s top 200 in the sustainable institutions indicator.
