Our impact

Top-ranked for sustainability  

• In the 2025 QS Sustainability Rankings, UCL secured 1st place in the UK, 3rd in Europe, and 5th globally, standing out among 1,744 universities worldwide. 
• UCL has held First Class status in the People & Planet University League for seven consecutive years. 
• In 2024, UCL was named Times University of the Year, with our visionary and sustainable UCL East campus playing a key role in this achievement.

UCL is run sustainably

Sustainability is embedded across all aspects of university life, from procurement, to travel, food and waste.   

• Our Positive Climate campaign has led to a 53% reduction in campus carbon emissions*, a switch to 100% renewable electricity, divestment from fossil fuels and the opening of our first net-zero carbon building at PEARL.
• Through The Loop campaign, we’ve promoted a circular economy and prioritised products that are better for people and planet. We’ve cut waste by over 60% per person (since 2019), achieved Fairtrade accreditation and switched to 100% plastic-free internal catering.
• Our Wild Bloomsbury campaign has enhanced biodiversity, wellbeing and climate resilience in our local community. Since 2019, we’ve created 2,419m² of new biodiverse space, enhanced biodiversity across 18,000m² and have an additional 5,461m² planned for upcoming projects. 

*(Scopes 1 & 2 (building energy emissions)– 2018-2019 Baseline).  

UCL shapes the debate

From testing plastic-eating bacteria to creating carbon-absorbing bio-curtains on campus, UCL researchers and students are driving global sustainability through innovative research, impactful start-ups, collaborations, and global initiatives. 

• Through UCL’s Grand Challenges Programme, our research is centred around changing the world, addressing some of the major challenges of our time, such as the climate crisis, mental health and wellbeing, data-empowered societies, inequalities, intercultural communications and beyond. 

• Since, 2020, the UCL Climate Hub and Generation One campaign have been turning science into action by supporting our community at climate conferences and through our climate podcast. 

• To reduce the environmental impact of laboratories, we developed the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), now adopted by over 100 institutions worldwide. 

• From life-saving medicine to revolutionary technology, UCL Innovation and Enterprise supports staff, students and organisations to turn their knowledge and ideas into solutions that benefits us all.  

• UCL has many research centres dedicated to sustainability.

UCL inspires action

• Sustainability is deeply ingrained in UCL's culture offering our students, staff and the wider public numerous ways to engage. 
• UCL is dedicated to ensuring every student has the opportunity to gain a sustainable education through the welcome period, formal curriculum and co-curricular activities. 
• With over 230 climate and sustainability-related modules and more than 6,000 modules linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, UCL is equipping students with the knowledge and skills to tackle global challenges. 
• Students can also take part in a wide range of extracurricular opportunities, with over 300 active volunteering opportunities across London through the Students Union Volunteering directory, our Sustainability Ambassador Programme, termly Sustainability Forums, and UCL’s flagship Sustainability Leadership Conference, which brings together 250 students from across all disciplines. Additionally, UCL offers a dedicated sustainability induction open to all students. 

For more impact data, access our annual reports.