QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026
A Swedish University crowned World's Best, Asia ascends and UK Shines as US drops
LONDON, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- QS Quacquarelli Symonds, global higher education experts, have released the 2026 edition of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability.
Lund University in Sweden has taken the top spot for the first time. University of Toronto drops to second place, followed by UCL up to third.
This year, 2000+ universities are featured across 106 higher education systems.
The US is most represented (240 universities), followed by China (163), the UK (109), India (103) and France (76).
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Top-10 |
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2026 |
2025 |
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1 |
=3 |
Lund University |
Sweden |
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2 |
1 |
University of Toronto |
Canada |
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3 |
=5 |
UCL |
UK |
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4 |
=7 |
The University of Edinburgh |
UK |
|
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5 |
=5 |
University of British Columbia |
Canada |
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6 |
=39 |
LSE |
UK |
|
|
=7 |
=7 |
Imperial College London |
UK |
|
|
=7 |
=12 |
UNSW Sydney |
Australia |
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|
9 |
=15 |
McGill University |
Canada |
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10 |
=9 |
The University of Manchester |
UK |
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Ben Sowter, QS Senior VP, said, "The publication of the QS Sustainability Rankings arrives at a pivotal moment. With only 17% of the 169 global Sustainable Development Goals on track for delivery in 2030, the need for accelerated action on environmental and social challenges has never been clearer."
Overview
- University of California, Berkeley (11th ), remains top in the US. NYU joins the top-20.
- The UK has the most institutions in the top 10, top 50, and top 200.
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Canada has the world's highest concentration of top-10 universities (7%)
- UNSW Sydney re-enters the top-10 (7th). Four Australian universities are in the top-20.
- Université Paris-Saclay (45th) is the only French university among the top-50.
- Germany boasts 65 ranked universities, led by Universität Hamburg (46th)
- Delft University of Technology (35th) is the Dutch leader
- 58 Spanish universities are featured in this edition, led by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (83rd)
- Seoul National University (37th) becomes Asia's top-performer, overtaking The University of Tokyo (48th).
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China adds more institutions than any other system - 49 new entries—nearly double its closest competitor, India (+26). Fudan University is the highest ranked (140th).
- IIT Delhi remains India's best performing institution (205th).
- National University of Singapore (69th) and Nanyang Technological University (99th) are tied in first for Environmental Research
- Universidade de São Paulo is the only Latin American university in the top-200 (90th).
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South Africa boasts all four of Africa's top-ranked universities. University of Cape Town leads (59th)
- American University of Beirut retains highest rank in the Arab Region (176th)
The complete rankings are available here.
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