Sydney 11th globally in QS rankings for sustainability
The QS rankings feature 1744 universities across 107 countries and territories, including 38 institutions in Australia. The University of Sydney ranked second nationally.
QS’ methodology for the World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025 is based on university performance across three categories (using multiple performance indicators): environmental impact, social impact and governance.
The University ranked 4th in the world for social impact and 19th for environmental impact.
On three of the performance indicators the University ranked in the top 20 universities:
- maintaining its position of first globally for impact of education with a perfect score of 100
- strengthening its rankings for environmental education (global rank 11th up from 18th) and employability opportunities (global rank 13th up from 16th).
“I commend all our staff on the strength of our performance in the QS sustainability rankings, which aligns with our deep strategic commitment to sustainability across teaching, research, good governance and a responsible environmental footprint,” said Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Mark Scott.
"Examples of that commitment include the establishment of the Net Zero Institute, which brings together more than 150 researchers to develop practical decarbonisation solutions, our Sydney Horizon Fellowships, a $100 million investment in supporting early-to-mid career researchers who focus on sustainability, climate change and health and our plan for the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator, a landmark investment in accelerating medical breakthroughs to address some of the biggest health issues of our time which also aims to achieve an ambitious five-star Green Star sustainability rating.”
Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Julie Cairney said, “Some of the most recent research examples of our essential engagement with the broad-ranging goals of sustainability include:
a first-of-its-kind map showing that the genetic diversity of koala populations is in decline across Australia
a new chemical engineering technique, which turns methane emissions from landfill into sustainable jet fuel
developing an AI method to reduce the energy required by data centres
an architectural study on more than 580,000 new homes in Australia, examining the relationship between big design and inefficient energy use."
Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, publisher of the ranking, said “The QS Sustainability Rankings support the higher education sector’s transition to sustainable practices by promoting transparency, impactful research, equality, and climate mitigation. “
This year the University of Sydney secured its highest ever ranking overall to be placed 18th globally and 2nd in Australia in the prestigious QS World University rankings.