Essex one of top 200 universities in the world for action on sustainability

The University of Essex remains amongst the top universities in the world for promoting sustainability through research and education according to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025.

A total of 2,526 universities from 130 countries or territories were reviewed for the rankings based on their progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The University of Essex is in the top 200 – firmly within the top 10% of universities within the rankings.

• You can find out more about our performance on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals in our annual report

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. They use carefully calibrated indicators to assess sustainability across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

Essex was in the top 100 in the world for its performance on six Sustainable Development Goals – one more than last year – but dropped out of the overall top 100 for the first time.

Essex is ranked 51st for SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production’, 55th for SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities, 70th for SDG 1 – No Poverty, 83rd for SDG 13 – Climate Action, 95th  for SDG 14 – Life Below Water, and 99th for SDG 17 - Partnership for the Goals.

The University of Essex improved its performance on research in 12 out of the 17 SDGs assessed.

Essex Vice-Chancellor Professor Maria Fasli said: ““We’re proud to be ranked among the top 200 universities in the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. This ranking reflects our dedication to having a lasting, positive influence regionally, nationally and globally through our research, education, community engagement and operations.

“Our ranking in the top 10% of universities in the Impact rankings is underpinned by the strength of our research on key issues such as the causes of poverty, sustainable management of marine eco-systems, climate action, reducing inequalities, and responsible consumption and production, alongside the partnerships we build to put our research into action.

“Placing in the global top 100 for our performance on six Sustainable Development Goals demonstrates our strong commitment to sustainability and to being among the world’s leading universities for driving real change around these issues.”