Lund University crowned world’s best for sustainability
Lund University in Sweden has taken the top spot for the first time in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings: Sustainability since it was established in 2023. The University of Toronto in Canada drops to second place after being the world’s best in 2024 and 2025, and University College London (UCL) in the UK climbs two positions to third overall.
This year, some 2,000 universities are featured across 106 higher education systems, up from around 1,750 in the previous edition. Overall, the US is most represented, with 240 universities, followed by China with 163, the UK with 109, India with 103 and France with 76.
Three universities join the top 10, including the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), up from 39th to sixth, the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), up from 12th to seventh – two below its 2023 position when it ranked fifth – and McGill University, up from 15th to ninth.
University of California, Berkeley (UCB), which was number one in the first iteration in 2023 and third last year, drops out of the top 10 for the first time. Meanwhile, the University of Melbourne drops from ninth to 16th and ETH Zurich slips from second to 11th.
Leigh Kamolins, QS director of analytics and evaluation, and co-chair for the United Nations Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HSEI) Action Group on Rankings, Ratings and Assessments, said: “The publication of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 arrives at a pivotal moment. With only 17% of the 169 global Sustainable Development Goals on track for delivery in 2030, the need for accelerated action on environmental and social challenges has never been clearer.”
Sustainability is ‘no longer optional’
He said for the 20th-anniversary edition of the QS World University Rankings, released in June, performance in the Sustainability Rankings was introduced as a new indicator influencing each institution’s overall position.
“This addition was designed to send a clear message: sustainability excellence – across research, governance, education, operations, skills development, and social impact – is no longer optional but a core dimension of institutional strength,” Kamolins said.
“The integration also directly reflects the priorities of the more than half a million prospective international students surveyed by QS. Some 76% of students we have surveyed indicate that an institution’s commitment to reducing their environmental impact is either extremely or very important to them.”
Duncan Ross, also co-chair of HSEI’s Action Group on Rankings, Ratings and Assessments, and former chief data officer for Times Higher Education, writing on LinkedIn, said it was impressive to see how the QS Sustainability ranking had grown. “It is clear that sustainability has become a key way of evaluating university impact and performance.”
He pointed out the difference with the THE Impact Rankings is that the QS ranking is more heavily biased towards research and reputation than the THE ranking, “so we would expect that it would lean more towards the results that we expect to see in a research-focused ranking”.
But the biggest difference, he said, is the inclusion criteria. “THE adopt a mechanism that lets any (paying)…university participate if they provide data, but for QS you will be included if you are in one of their research-focused rankings (more or less). One result is that QS has a big US bias that you don’t see in THE, with 236 US participants to 46.”
Erik Renström, vice-chancellor of top-ranked Lund University, said: "Sustainability has long been a clear priority for the university, and the way we work is shaped by a Scandinavian tradition of trust, collaboration, and openness. I am incredibly proud of our employees, students, alumni, and the many organisations and companies we work with – this result is theirs as much as the university’s.
"At the same time, we remain humble, because we know that major challenges remain. Being number one raises the bar for us, and those challenges inspire us to keep pushing forward in an interdisciplinary and innovative way so that the knowledge we generate leads to real impact and lasting change in society."
A total of eight countries see at least 10 institutions debut in the ranking this year, with Mainland China adding 49 debutants, followed by India with 26, France with 19 and Türkiye with 18. Germany (16 debutants), Spain (15), the UK (13) and the US (11) all have more than 10 entries.
The UK leads the rankings, with more top 10 universities than any other country and nearly twice as many in the top 50 and top 100 as its closest competitor, the US. Canada, meanwhile, has the highest concentration of top 10 universities, with 7% in this tier.
Belgium and Ireland each have two institutions in the top 50 – 20% of their entries, the highest concentration of any country. Singapore has the largest share of top-100 entries, with two of its four ranked universities in this tier.
QS’ methodology for the World University Rankings: Sustainability 2025 is based on university performance across three assessment categories: Environmental Impact (45% – aggregating three lenses: Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Education and Environmental Research); Social Impact (45% – aggregating five lenses: Equality, Knowledge Exchange, Impact of Education, Employability & Outcomes and Health & Wellbeing); and Governance (10% – Considering factors related to good governance: ethics, hiring practices, transparency, decision-making, etcetera.)
Europe
The 500+ European universities are, on average, the best performing across the nine lenses that the rankings measure.
Lund University is ranked top for Equality and places second for Health and Wellbeing and Environmental Sustainability. The University of Vienna, which ranks 396th overall, places second in the Impact of Education lens, worth 7% of the overall score. The Netherlands has the best average score in the Social Impact lens, and Belgium has the second-best average result in the Environmental Impact lens.
France has the most represented higher education system in continental Europe, with 77 ranked entries. Of these, 19 rank for the first time. Université Paris-Saclay is the only French university among the top 50, placing 45th, down six places, while Sorbonne University is 61st, up seven.
German institutions feature 65 times in the ranking this year, with 16 universities debuting in 2026. A total of 12 improved overall this year. Three German universities are among the top 100, including Universität Hamburg, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and the University of Cologne, placing 46th, 57th and 88th, respectively.
A total of 57 universities from Italy feature in the ranking, five of which are new. In all, 16 improved their ranking this year, and six retained their position from last year.
Spain is the third most represented higher education system in continental Europe, with 15 new entries, bringing its total entries to 58. Among these, 16% (nine universities) improved their ranking this year, and two remain in the same position as last year.
Among the Nordic countries specifically, Sweden and Finland perform exceptionally, with five and two universities in the global top 100, respectively. The University of Helsinki is the region’s second-best university (after Lund University), placing 22nd. Chalmers University of Technology climbs into the top 100, up 73 positions to 64th. Denmark’s highest-ranked university, the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), climbed from 110th to 107th.
However, despite their success in the rankings, both Sweden and Norway record more drops than gains. Finland and Denmark both see as many universities rise as drop, while Iceland’s only ranked university, the University of Iceland, dropped from 749th to 890th.
Health and Wellbeing marks an exceptional strength for Nordic universities, with four placing in the world’s top five in this indicator, including first- and second-placed University of Helsinki and Lund University. This suggests excellent on-campus health provisions and reflects strong research in related fields.
UK & Ireland
Ireland sees two universities in the global top 50, with Trinity College Dublin rising to 29th and University College Dublin cementing its position among top performers, appearing at 47th.
The UK is the most successful higher education system in the Sustainability Rankings, with more elite universities than any other country or territory. It has the highest number of institutions in the top 10, top 50, and top 200.
It is particularly exceptional in Governance, with eight universities among the top 10, and Health and Wellbeing with nine, and Knowledge Exchange with five. It sees room for improvement in Environmental Research, which is the only lens in which no UK university is among the top 10.
LSE and the University of Oxford enter the top 20 for the first time, climbing to sixth and 14th, respectively.
After UCL, the University of Edinburgh is second in the UK in 2026 for a second consecutive year. It has also improved its overall standing, climbing to fourth from seventh last year.
The third institution in the UK is LSE, which has risen to sixth place from 39th in 2025. Of the 52 UK universities that have improved this year, Keele University, UWE Bristol and Birkbeck, University of London are the most improved, climbing to 482nd, 232nd, and 451st, respectively.
Overall, 17 UK universities feature in the top 50 – the same number as last year. However, two of these institutions are new to the top 50: the University of Oxford and the University of Leeds.
Three UK universities enter the top 100, including the University of Bath, the University of Strathclyde and the University of Warwick. This means 30 UK universities feature in the top 100, up from 26 in the 2025 iteration.
North America
Only the UK has more entries in the top 10 than Canada’s three, while the UK is also the only country that has more universities in the top 50 than the United States, which has nine.
The United States remains the most represented higher education system in the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026. However, 38 universities improve their overall rank, while 168 drop, 23 remain stable and 11 are new. This gives the US one of the highest percentages of previously ranked universities to drop down the ranking.
New York University (NYU) climbs up to 20th place this year, its best ever result, and Boston University rises to 40th position, entering the top 50 for the first time. Three US universities enter the top 100, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 86th, Washington University in St Louis, rising five places to 97th, and the University of Connecticut up to 99th.
The United States remains home to several of the world’s strongest universities for environmental education, with UC Berkeley, Stanford, and MIT jointly holding the global top position.
Yet the country’s scientific strength may face headwinds, according to a QS press release that references a survey by Nature earlier this year which reported that of the 1,600 US-based scientists who responded, nearly 1,200 – about three-quarters – said they were considering leaving the country, often for posts in Europe or Canada.
Despite Canada’s exceptional concentration of top-tier universities – the highest percentage of top 10 universities in the world (7%) – the country has experienced majority drops, with 51% of its previously ranked institutions dropping and 20% climbing.
This is primarily due to the expansion of the rankings driving competition, including nine new Canadian institutions.
However, Canada’s gains come primarily among its top-ranked institutions. Of its nine universities in the top 100, five have improved, including McGill University (ninth, +6), Western University (24th, +6), Université de Montréal (53rd, +12), Queen’s University at Kingston (59th, +34) and McMaster University (92nd, +1).
Asia
Seoul National University in Korea becomes Asia’s top-performing university in this edition, overtaking last year’s leader, the University of Tokyo. Its success is driven by improvements in Employability and Outcomes, Equality, Environmental Sustainability and Environmental Research. With Korea University rising six places to enter the top 100 at 95th, this is the first year Korea has three universities in the top 100.
China is the second most represented country in the rankings, with 163 universities featured. It has added more institutions than any other higher education system, with 49 new entries – nearly double that of its closest competitor, India, which adds 26.
This growth reflects improved environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies and greater data transparency and availability across Chinese universities. Although more institutions have dropped in rank than risen, China’s drop rate of -27% is moderate and aligns closely with the average among all systems experiencing declines in this highly competitive edition.
According to a QS press release, China’s main challenges are in Social Impact, particularly Equality, Impact of Education and Health and Wellbeing, in which no universities place in the top 200. Knowledge exchange, however, is a strength for China, with five universities among the top 100 in this lens – the joint-highest in Asia, alongside South Korea.
Singapore has two universities in the top 100, with the National University of Singapore (NUS) dropping six places to 69th and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) falling to 99th. These universities excel in Environmental Research with each tied in first place in this indicator.
Japan’s top 100 entry is The University of Tokyo at 48th, and National Taiwan University (NTU) is Taiwan’s only top 100 entry, appearing at 72nd. Mainland China’s best-performing institution is Fudan University at 140th, while the best university in Hong Kong is The University of Hong Kong at 137th.
India’s top-performing institution, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), drops out of the top 200, placing 205th. IITs lead India domestically in the ranking, with all three of the country’s top-performing universities and seven of its top 10 belonging to this prestigious group.
Thailand is among the most improved higher education systems in this year’s rankings. QS ranks 19 Thai universities, 13 of which rise, two drop and two remain stable, while two rank for the first time.
This gives Thailand an overall improvement rank of 58%. The highest in the world among higher education systems with 10 or more ranked universities. Its highest-ranked institution, Chulalongkorn University, places 165th.
Oceania
New Zealand is once again one of the best-performing locations on the planet, with all of its eight universities ranked among the top 500. However, faced with heightened global competition, only one institution improved its rank this year. The University of Auckland is the highest-ranked university, placing 28th.
In Australia, a quarter of the 38 ranked universities improve their rankings. One of those to improve is UNSW Sydney, which rises five places to re-enter the top 10 at 7th. In the inaugural ranking, UNSW placed fifth. Australian National University (ANU) has also seen significant improvements this year, rising into the top 20 to rank joint 16th.
Australia performs exceptionally in Equality, with five universities among the top 10 in this indicator, more than any other country. The majority of Australia’s universities have climbed the table in this indicator, including four of its five top 10 placed institutions.
Environmental research, on the other hand, marks a challenge for Australia, with no university among the top 200. University of Technology Sydney is the highest ranked, placing 205th.
Latin America
While in the previous iteration of the ranking, four institutions across three countries in Latin America featured in the top 200, this year’s heightened competition has resulted in a shift. Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil is now the only institution from the region to rank among the top 200 at joint 90th.
However, more than 50 of the 128 universities that ranked from Latin America and the Caribbean last year have improved in this edition. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro has entered the top 300, rising 26 places, to rank 277th.
The Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), also in Brazil, has entered the top 500, ranking 316th.
Ecuador and Peru are among the most improved higher education systems in this year’s rankings, with 60% of their previously ranked universities rising. Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru climbs 104 places to rank 411th, while Ecuador’s premier university, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, climbed 116 places to 504th.
Ben Sowter, QS senior vice president, said Latin American higher education institutions were steadily embedding sustainability into governance, curricula, and campus operations – but the progress was uneven. “Nations like Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina are gaining momentum.
In Brazil and Mexico, universities frequently lead national sustainability-works and partnerships; in Chile and Colombia, innovation clusters and inclusive community initiatives are emerging; Argentina, meanwhile, is strengthening its environmental education legacy.
“Nevertheless, Latin America’s higher-education contributions to global sustainability discourse are still marginal. The governance frameworks and institutional capacities needed for deep systemic transformation remain weak or fragmented, and regional disparities persist,” he said.
Middle East & Western Asia
Nine of the 10 top-performing institutions across Western Asia, the Middle East and North Africa improve their scores this year. All three of Bahrain’s three entries improve their rank, as do both of Qatar’s.
Six of Lebanon’s seven entries improved their ranking, with the American University of Beirut (AUB) rising 29 places to enter the top 200 at 176th. Most entries from Saudi Arabia and the UAE also improved their ranking this year. King Abdulaziz University (KAU) rises 13 places to enter the top 200 at 194th. The United Arab Emirates University’s position of 318th is the institution’s best-ever result.
In specific lenses, 72 universities across the Arab region improve in Social Impact (compared with 45 that drop), and 67 improve in Environmental Impact (compared with 51 that drop). Institutions perform less well in the Governance indicator, with a total of 79 dropping compared with the 39 that improve.
Kamolins said universities across the Arab Region are making “outstanding improvements” in the rankings. “Governments across the region have made ambitious plans to shift their economies in the face of the climate crisis, making this ranking all the more important.”
Africa
More than 80 universities from 16 African countries appear in the ranking this year, 15 of which debut. While Egypt leads the continent with 29 ranked institutions (and three new debutants), South Africa is home to all four of Africa’s top-ranked universities. This includes the University of Cape Town, the only African institution in the top 100, ranked 59th this year – down from 45th last year.