Queen’s recently climbed the QS Sustainability rankings, securing the top 7 per cent of universities worldwide.   

The QS Sustainability Rankings assess an institution's ability to tackle the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges, featuring over 1,400 universities from around the world.  

Queen’s also received a 2:1 in the People and Planet University League, compiled annually by the UK’s largest student campaigning network, People & Planet.  

Completing the hat-trick of recent accolades is the Platinum award in the Business in the Community (BITC) NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey, which recognizes the top businesses in Northern Ireland for their environmental management, performance and assurance. 

The awards reflect a number of initiatives and investments made by the University as part of its ambitious Strategy 2030, which has a strong focus on sustainability.  

A considerable investment from the University this year has been the drive toward Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF) across the campus. LEAF is a set of criteria that improves the sustainability and efficiency of laboratories. It is estimated that laboratories are responsible for around two per cent of global plastic waste and use 3-10 times more energy per meter squared than a typical office. As a research-intense university, Queen’s now boasts 40 LEAF laboratories, which is a huge step in improving sustainability and is one of the leading institutions on the island of Ireland. 

A significant project this year includes a €70 million in joint funding invested in two research centres on climate and sustainable food, both co-directed by Queen’s academics as part of the Co-Centres Programme. The programme is jointly funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, UK Research and Innovation, and industry. It will bring together academics, industry and policymakers across Ireland and the UK to collaborate on common challenges such as food sustainability and climate change. 

Another key project has been the Carbon Literacy Project, run in partnership with a local charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, offering staff and students training to both educate and raise awareness of climate change while also providing the opportunity to share ways to encourage positive actions around the issue. Over 1,000 staff and students are carbon literate thanks to training undertaken this year.  

Professor Michael Alcorn, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Strategic Projects and Sustainability, said:

“Queen’s is committed to driving forward the agenda for sustainability. This year, we have seen considerable investment, world-leading research projects and projects that put sustainability at the heart of our community. I look forward to making further progression in this area and to see further impact of our work.”