Durham recognised as global leader in sustainability

The background…

The SDGs were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022 assessed over 1,400 universities worldwide against the UN SDGs, on research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

Durham’s success

We’re proud to say our overall score rose to 87.3 out of 100.

On SDG17, Partnership for the Goals, we ranked 14^th globally – a fantastic recognition of how we work with partners locally and globally to achieve more together. For example:

• We’re working with partners locally in North East England to draw geothermal energy from a disused coal mine to heat buildings.
• Each year we work with local organisations and charities to run the Green Move Out scheme, through which our students can donate unwanted items to charity at the end of the academic year.
• We’re actively involved with the County Durham Environment and Climate Change Partnership, where organisations and individuals share knowledge and skills to find innovate solutions to environmental issues affecting our county.

We’re also building the SDGs into our education offer, with programmes in climate science, sustainability, energy and development, and environmental geoscience.

We also scored highly for SDG 15: Life on Land (60^th globally) and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (64^th globally).

Find out more
- Interested in environmental study? Explore our Environmental Geoscience BSc, Climate Science BSc, Sustainability, Energy and Development MSc
- Join our Greenspace Movement for sustainability
- Read a blog by one of our students about living sustainably
- Discover more about the UN SDGs