Bristol has been named among the most sustainable universities in the world. The institution placed 12th in the QS World Sustainability Rankings, while it was the fifth highest-scoring in the UK.
The rankings judged 1,744 universities on more than 50 criteria, from environmental research and teaching, to the gender balance of staff and community outreach.
The top-ranking university was Toronto, in Canada, followed by ETH Zurich, in Switzerland, with Sweden’s Lund University in third position.
Initiatives put in place in Bristol to reduce emissions include installing more solar panels; mapping across its cafes to cut the carbon footprint of its homemade food by 27%; and a new climate education programme to train facilitators to run sustainability workshops. A total of 50% of the university’s vehicle fleet is now also electric.
Prof Evelyn Welch, the university’s vice-chancellor and president, said: “This is an exciting moment for the university, and although we still have a long way to go, we are delighted that our efforts toward creating a more sustainable future have been recognised.
“Becoming more sustainable is complicated at a university that undertakes all sorts of scientific experiments and has many Georgian buildings which, although beautiful, were not built with the environment in mind.”
The university’s researchers are tackling some of the planet’s greatest issues – from climate change and biodiversity loss to improving health outcomes and addressing domestic violence. It is also home to the Cabot Institute for the Environment and is the first university in the world to receive Green Labs certification for all of its laboratories – 990 in total.
Bristol also came second in the world in the ‘equality’ category, which examines universities’ disability support and how research improves global equality when judged against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Prof Michele Acuto, the university’s pro vice-chancellor for global engagement, added: “We are proud that our work in research, teaching and civic engagement tackles head on global challenges like climate change, whilst attending closely to inequality and poverty, aiming to make a difference both here in Bristol and internationally.”