The best (and absolute worst) Russell Group unis for sustainability in 2025

Times Higher Education has ranked universities across the world for how sustainable they are. The list is based on how hard the unis have actually tried to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Here’s a look at where all the Russell Group unis ranked on this list, so you can see how many sh*ts your uni really gives about sustainability in 2025.

Now, not every Russell Group uni was included in Times Higher Education’s 2025 sustainability ranking, which is why a handful of them aren’t mentioned below. I didn’t just forget about them. Oxbridge is notably absent.

So, here’s where the Russell Group unis ranked on Times Higher Education’s University Impact Rankings 2025.

201-300. University of York

According to Times Higher Education, York is the least sustainable Russell Group uni in 2025. Out of the unis that agreed to being ranked for this, anyway. York’s least bad score was for climate action. Apparently the uni did a decent job at reducing greenhouse gas emissions on campus.

101-200. University of Bristol, Cardiff University, Newcastle University, University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton, and the University of Warwick

These seven Russell Group unis were ranked within the 101-200 band. I guess this makes them objectively mediocre at sustainability.

88. University of Liverpool

Yay for Liverpool

The uni just managed to make it into the top 100 most sustainable unis worldwide. Liverpool got a fab score for reducing inequalities.

79. Queen’s University Belfast

Apparently Queen’s is really good at protecting the coasts, and combating pollution in the sea.

=71. University of Leeds

Leeds scored really well for being inclusive and for promoting equal opportunities.

=71. University of Edinburgh

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Edinburgh got a perfect score for “industry, innovation and infrastructure”. So, the uni did a great job at developing new tech and strategies to help expand industries in an equitable way.

34. Durham University

The uni‘s highest score was for “life on land”. This means it helped combat biodiversity loss, and promoted sustainable forestry management.

28. University of Exeter

There’s plenty of greenery around Exetaaaah

Exeter did a great job at managing natural resources and minimising its environmental impact.

12. University of Glasgow

Glasgow came super high up in the ranking, due to its work on clean water and sanitation.

2. University of Manchester

The uni was ranked as the most sustainable university in Europe, and the second most sustainable uni overall. Yay for Manchester. This is deeply impressive, since Times Higher Education looked at 2,526 different universities from across 130 countries. Manchester scored particularly well for making communities and cities more sustainable.

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