University of Toronto, Canada has emerged as the top university in 2025 QS World University Rankings, Sustainability. The rankings have been compiled using a methodology comprised of indicators designed to measure an institution's ability to tackle the world's greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges.
ETH Zurich ranks at the second place. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) is the top university in the US for sustainability, sharing third place globally with Lund University in Sweden.
UCL in London, United Kingdom and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada ranks fifth in the QS World University Rankings, Sustainability 2025.
Imperial College London, United Kingdom and The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom are the seventh ranking universities.
The University of Manchester, United Kingdom and The University of Melbourne, Australia are the ninth ranking universities.
The QS Sustainability Rankings 2025 features nearly 1,800 universities from around the world.
Citing the latest QS International Students Survey, Jessica Turner, CEO of QS, said, "Sustainability is a top priority for today's students, with nine in 10 identifying it as important and 40 per cent actively researching universities' sustainability strategies during the application process." This underscores the urgency for sustainability to remain at the forefront of institutional agendas, she said.
"The progress reflected in this year's QS Sustainability Rankings — marked by 461 institutions improving their positions, 350 new entrants, and five universities breaking into the top 20 for the first time — highlights the growing global efforts by higher education institutions to address sustainability challenges. However, despite some strong performances of universities in our rankings, there is still much to be done," she added.
QS' methodology for the 'World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025' is based on university performance across three assessment categories -- Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance.
