University first in Scotland again for sustainability

Glasgow Caledonian has once again been ranked the leading university in Scotland for its exceptional contributions to environmental and social responsibility in the 2024/25 People & Planet University League.

We are ranked 35th in the UK out of 149 universities – up eight places from last year.

People & Planet is the UK's largest student campaigning network. Its annual University League is the only league table that ranks UK universities on their environmental and ethical performance.

The rating is based on scores across 14 categories, including environmental policy and strategy, workers' rights, education for sustainable development, and carbon and water reduction. The criteria is scored using data collected and made public by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and other external agencies, as well as from information available on universities' websites.

Paulo Cruz, Head of Operational Sustainability at Glasgow Caledonian, said: "This fantastic result is a recognition of the University community’s commitment to addressing the Climate Emergency by making all aspects of its operations more sustainable. We are extremely grateful to everyone involved in not only making their operations more sustainable, but also making evidence of that available in the public domain. We look forward to working with colleagues to improve our position in future rankings.”

Our work in the area of sustainability has also been noticed elsewhere.

Last week, the University was ranked in the 2025 QS World University Rankings: Sustainability. The rankings highlight the ways in which universities are addressing the world's greatest Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues.

Glasgow Caledonian was placed 64^th in the UK and 574^th in the world.

Professor Steve Decent, our Principal and Vice-Chancellor, welcomed the results and said: "Glasgow Caledonian's strong performance in these sustainability league tables underscores our unwavering commitment to sustainability and our goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. My deepest gratitude goes to our dedicated colleagues, whose exceptional efforts have made this achievement possible."

The University’s Sustainability Team will host a debrief session to unpack our score and explore opportunities for improvement. The session will be held on Teams at 1-2pm on Wednesday, January 15. Please email Paulo if you're interested in attending.