Trinity places 29th in world in 2026 QS sustainability ranking
Posted on: 18 November 2025
Trinity’s Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action Jane Stout said: “There are now a huge number of people across the whole university working towards a shared vision for a better future, including our student body, colleagues in Estates and Facilities, Academic Practice, the Library, Catering, the Health Service, as well as the academic schools. We can be proud of what we have achieved so far."
Trinity College Dublin has ranked 29th in the 2026 QS World University Rankings for Sustainability, reflecting a core focus on sustainability across the university. Trinity ranked first in Ireland and 16th in Europe for sustainability, according to this global ranking of 2,001 institutions.
This follows Trinity’s creation of, in 2022, a Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action, an important senior role aimed at embedding sustainability as a key priority across education, research, operations and community. The dedicated sustainability team includes new roles such as Biodiversity, Sustainable Travel, and Green Labs Officers, as well as Education for Sustainable Development Fellows. Trinity has hundreds of researchers and educators working to address key problems related to climate change, biodiversity, and health.
Trinity’s first Sustainability Strategy 2023-2030 sets out tangible targets on climate, nature and health for the university, including:
* Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 in line with Government targets
* Achieving net zero by 2040
* Becoming nature positive by 2030, conserving, managing and restoring at least 30% of Trinity’s land area for nature
* Linking planetary health with human health and aims for increased health and wellbeing for Trinity students and staff by 2030.
In the 2026 QS Sustainability ranking, Trinity scored highly across all three main categories: Environmental impact, social impact and governance. The 2026 position is a significant jump from 2025 when Trinity was 265th globally. The scale of the change reflects Trinity’s engagement with the data submission exercise for the most recent ranking.
Trinity’s Vice-President for Biodiversity and Climate Action Jane Stout (pictured below) said: “This result reflects hugely increased support and investment in sustainability at Trinity, in terms of governance, day to day operations, research and education for sustainable development. There are now a huge number of people across the whole university working towards a shared vision for a better future, including our student body, colleagues in Estates and Facilities, Academic Practice, the Library, Catering, the Health Service, as well as the academic schools. We can be proud of what we have achieved so far.
“That said, irrespective of any rankings, what matters most is that Trinity is moving ahead toward reaching its sustainability goals. Sustainability is never a competition. We know we have a long way to go, and improved rankings like this encourage us to do more.”
Sustainability manager Jane Hackett added: “Sustainability really matters to staff and students at Trinity and it’s now fully embedded throughout Thrive, our new Strategic Plan for 2025-2030. We see our students striving to support sustainability by actively contributing through Green Campus and Green Labs committees, attending events during action weeks to supporting initiatives such as Trash to Treasure – focusing on promoting circularity by reusing thousands of items such as clothes and household goods.
“Sustainability must be central to all we do in the university - what we learn, how we do research and why we operate our campus with climate, biodiversity and health in mind. As a community we must continue to strive to do more so that we and future generations can thrive.”
ENDS
Media Contact:
Catherine O’Mahony | Media Relations | catherine.omahony@tcd.ie