The University of Southampton has placed 13 in the UK and 34 in the world in this year’s QS World University Rankings for sustainability.

The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, look at how universities are addressing the world’s greatest environmental and social challenges.

More than 1,400 institutions from around the world are assessed in the rankings, including 93 universities in the United Kingdom.

For one metric, Health and Wellbeing, the University achieved an impressive second in the world ranking.

This metric assesses an institution’s commitment to improving the health and wellbeing, not only of its students, but society more widely.

This is the second year the rankings have run, and the university has climbed 54 places.

University of Southampton Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark E. Smith, said: “As universities, we have a unique role to play in confronting the challenges of climate change and ecological destruction.

“Sustainability needs to be part of everything we do - our research, our teaching, and our engagement activities.

“It is fantastic to see the progress we are making in building a more sustainable future reflected in this year’s QS World University Rankings for Sustainability.”

For Environmental Impact, Southampton climbed 98 places to 32 in the world for this area.

This recognises the impact of the institution’s education, research activities and operations towards an environmentally sustainable future.

The University also climbed 28 places for Social Impact, putting it in the top 20 universities in the world.

This encompasses what the university is doing to boost employability, equality, education, health and wellbeing, and knowledge sharing.

The university has recently launched a new Sustainability and Resilience Institute.

The institute aims to bring together colleagues from disciplines across the University to work with experts from around the world to tackle the most critical challenges facing our society and environment.

Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Research Institute said: “We are delighted that the excellent sustainability work across the University has been recognised in the 2024 QS World University Rankings: Sustainability.

“Being ranked 34th in the world and 13th in the UK illustrates the great strides we are taking as an institution, delivering on the commitments in our University Strategy.

“We look forward to continuing to advance in all elements of our work through the Sustainability and Resilience Institute.”