We're proud to say that we are committed and continuously working towards a sustainable future for all and have been recognised in various sustainability league tables.

The QS World Sustainability Rankings 2026 ranked Durham 24th out of 2,001 universities assessed across the globe. The rankings grade institutions cross three categories: Environmental Impact, Social Impact, and Governance. The performance in each category is combined to create the overall score. This is our third consecutive year ranked in the global top 25. We are also ranked 9th in the UK and 13th in Europe for 2026.  

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025 placed us 34th in the world. We ranked fifth in the world for SDG15: Life on Land; sixth for SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions; and joint 17th for SDG13: Climate Action. In addition, we were placed 31st for SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 36th for SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation.

We're ranked 43rd in the People and Planet University League Table 2025/26, rising 5 places in the league table from 2024/25. We scored 100% for Staff & HR, and Environmental Auditing & Management Systems. We also scored highly on Education for Sustainable Development (95%), Sustainable Food (90%), Policy & Strategy (80%), Workers Rights (80%), and Staff and Student engagement (80%).