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University College Dublin is ranked 47th in the world and 27th in Europe in the 2026 QS World University Rankings for Sustainability.

“Retaining our global top 50 ranking for the third year running, and indeed climbing two places from last year, is a testament to the amazing work on sustainability throughout UCD,” said UCD Vice-President for Sustainability, Professor Tasman Crowe.

“Sustainability is woven into our education, research and operations. It is being promoted by faculty, professional staff and students, collaborating with each other and with a wide variety of partners outside the university.”

“We are very well placed to make a substantial contribution towards a more sustainable future and are determined to further develop as a thought and action leader for sustainability through our UCD Sustainability Plan to 2030.”

The 2026 rankings use a range of metrics across three assessment categories to gauge which institutions are doing the most to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges.

The three assessment categories include: Environmental Impact (Environmental Education, Environmental Research, Environmental Sustainability); Social Impact (Employability and Opportunities, Equality, Health & Wellbeing, Impact of Education, Knowledge Exchange); and Governance.

In the Governance category, UCD is ranked 29th in the world and 27th in Europe.

The Governance category assesses strength of leadership across an institution supporting, for example, open decision-making, a holistic ethical organisational culture, student representation on university’s governing bodies and financial transparency.

UCD has long been a prominent contributor to sustainability, and played a direct role in the development of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which span climate change, biodiversity, and a range of other environmental, social, economic and governance challenges, through the advocacy of Professor Patrick Paul Walsh, who is Vice President of Education and Director of the SDG Academy at the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).