Environment and Education: The Role of Universities in Promoting Sustainability

Universities might talk the talk on sustainability, but do they walk the walk? Chloe Moriarty looks at the sustainability influence of UK universities and their progress towards shaping a better future.

University. A place that bursts with life, bubbling with diverse people, ideas, and experiences. A home away from home, where lessons are learnt, friendships are forged, and memories are collected. It is a place of intense stress and immense satisfaction, where we watch the days melt into darkness by the light of a laptop screen, where we continuously evolve into ourselves whilst anxiously awaiting, or deeply dreading, being set free into a world that lies beyond formal education.

Amongst all of this, universities are hubs of knowledge and innovation, where we come together to learn and share our perspectives with others in structured seminars or informal coffee breaks. The cogs of research are forever turning, with papers churned out on literature, history, law, science, and more, powered by the curious minds of some of the world’s brightest. With knowledge exchange in abundance, the ability to solve society’s biggest challenges naturally follows. The success of these two factors drives universities’ significant influence. It comes as no surprise, then, that the emergence of anthropogenic climate change and the subsequent societal emphasis on sustainability now provides one of the greatest opportunities and challenges to universities.

Sustainability encompasses social, environmental, economic, and governmental factors, as illustrated by the United Nations Sustainability Goals. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

In the 2022-23 academic year, almost 3 million students were studying at a UK higher education institution. According to an NUS study, 87% of students want their university to take sustainability (an approach that integrates environment, economy, and people) seriously- equivalent to almost 2.6 million of those individuals. This presents a dilemma for universities: how do they align their operations with the multiple dimensions of sustainability, ensuring that their wide-reaching impact is positive and keeps students onside? The mounting tide of the environmental movement has resulted in over 130 UK universities putting forth sustainability strategies that encompass emissions, transport, waste, food, and more. A UK Universities Climate Network has also been established, bringing together 85 universities to help propel the journey to Net Zero.

Actions speak louder than words

It is undeniable that universities are broadly committing to sustainability, but do their actions align with their words? There are several different ways of ranking universities’ sustainability efforts, but one of the most famous is the QS World University Rankings which assesses a university’s performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. This assessment investigates the quality of a university’s environmental education and research programmes alongside other factors such as equality, health and wellbeing, employment opportunities, and governance. Eleven UK universities fell within the global top 30 on sustainability performance in the 2024 rankings, published in December 2023. The three best UK institutions, and their commitments to sustainability, are introduced below.

University of Manchester (Ranked #3)

A pioneer of sustainability, the University of Manchester (UOM) is ranked first across both the UK and Europe, and third globally. The university not only outlines but enacts their commitment to the UN Sustainability Goals, having published over 20,000 research papers relating to the seventeen goals in the last 5 years. In the rankings, the work of academics to align with Goals 1, 2, 3 and 6 (No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Wellbeing, and Clean Water and Sanitation respectively) was particularly celebrated. Moreover, UOM embraces social sustainability and describes itself as ‘the only university in the UK to have social responsibility as a core goal’; its ‘Stellify’ programme actively promotes student engagement with social and ethical issues via volunteering opportunities, unique course modules, and a designated accolade. Despite these achievements, QS pushes the university to continue striving for better, suggesting that it could particularly improve in the areas of ‘Environmental Education’ and ‘Impact of Education’.

The University of Manchester is leading the way in sustainability, receiving a score of 98/100 on the QS World University Rankings 2024. Credits: citysuitesimages via Wikimedia Commons.

Imperial College London (Ranked #6)

Landing an impressive score of 97/100 across the three broad ESG categories, Imperial College London (ICL) was ranked as the world’s sixth most sustainable university. The university has published a series of reports detailing its commitments to environmental sustainability and particularly improved staff and student transport, which makes up 40% of their emissions; trains are prioritised over flights where journey times are below 5 hours and the quantity of unnecessary travel is reduced by opting for online engagements instead of in-person events. QS noted that ICL could make improvements in its ‘Impact of Education’ and ‘Good Governance’ categories, which received scores of 79.2/100 and 83.4/100 respectively.

Since receiving the ranking, ICL has taken further action to boost its sustainability credentials. In Spring 2024 they announced their latest sustainability initiatives alongside the news that they were one of the first universities to join the Concordat for the Environmental Sustainability of Research and Innovation Practice, an ambitious scheme posited by the UK research and innovation sector, which seeks to ensure that academic research is conducted in a more environmentally responsible way, aligning with Net Zero targets.

Imperial College London is continuing to improve its sustainability efforts, joining the broader research and innovation sector in making research more environmentally conscious. Credits: Shadowssettle via Wikimedia Commons.

The University of Edinburgh (Ranked Joint #15)

Coming in slightly lower at fifteenth on the rankings, the University of Edinburgh (UOE) is the UK’s third most sustainable university. The Scottish university ranked particularly highly in the new category of ‘Good Governance’, scoring 99.7 out of a possible 100. UOE also prides itself on its social impact, recently announcing that it has provided funding for Scotland’s first 100% community-owned wind turbine in Kilbirnie as part of its commitment to social investment. Despite this, ‘Environmental Sustainability’ is not an area in which the university excels, according to QS, with the institution only receiving a score of 58.9/100 in this category. Like several other universities, UOE has committed to Net Zero by 2040; its Climate and Environmental Strategy is currently undergoing staff and student consultation with the aim of boosting the university’s sustainability credentials going into 2025. In addition, the university is continuing to explore the expansion of renewable energy on campus as an alternative for powering its facilities.

The University of Edinburgh scored lowly in the ‘Environmental Sustainability’ category, only obtaining a score of 58.9/100. Credits: LWYang via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s clear that many universities in the UK and around the globe are taking ambitious steps to align their activities with the sustainability values that they promote; the long road to a sustainable future stretches ahead. Notwithstanding, it is important to recognise not only the progress that educational institutions are making but also the potential for their impact to be amplified and expanded to a horizon beyond what has currently been conceived. Education is an undeniable vehicle for change- it’s time for universities to get in the driving seat and steer us all towards a future that cherishes people and planet alike, laying out tracks for the rest of the world to follow.

If you would like to find out more about the role of universities in transitioning to a sustainable future, explore the informative resources by Universities UK.

About the Author: Chloe Moriarty is a final year BSc Geography with Proficiency in Law student at the University of Exeter, with a keen interest in historic extinctions, human-wildlife conflicts, and environmental law. She runs an environmental campaign on campus, and volunteers weekly at conservation sessions. You can find out more and connect with Chloe via her LinkedIn.