The University of Nottingham has been ranked 3rd in the world in a list of the most sustainable universities.

The UI Green Metric, produced by the Universitas Indonesia, is the only university ranking in the world that measures each participating university’s commitment in developing an ‘environmentally friendly’ infrastructure. The rankings look at six indicators: setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste, water, transportation and education.

Since first taking part in 2010, Nottingham has consistently been placed in the top four. Over 900 universities from 84 coutries took part in the 2020 rankings.

In the past year, Nottingham published a University strategy putting sustainability at the heart of the institution’s core goals and committing to joining the city of Nottingham in its ambitions to become carbon-neutral by 2028. In March 2020 the University joined other institutions in declaring a climate emergency.

John Atherton, Pro Vice Chancellor and Chair of the University Sustainability Committee said: “The University of Nottingham is delighted to once again be recognised for the hard work it is doing to embed environmental sustainability across the institution and make it an integral part of our education and research. Our global research programme includes a focus on sustainable food production and future food security, green chemicals to tackle greenhouse gases, and sustainable propulsion.”

“Year-on-year we have reduced our carbon dioxide emissions on campus, achieving a total reduction of 40% since 2009 and exceeding the target set in 2010 by almost 2,000 tonnes. New ambitious carbon reduction targets are being developed using a science-based approach to ensure the University achieves its ‘fair share’ in reducing global emissions below 1.5 degrees.”

Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands, took the top spot, followed by the University of Oxford in second place. Nottingham Trent University took fourth place, giving Nottingham a remarkable double classification in the top four world rankings.

More information on University of Nottingham Sustainability can be found here.