This year's rankings have added another accolade to the University's outstanding record on sustainability - it is also first in the world in the Life on Land category.
THE rankings assess universities' impact on society and the environment against the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals .
In 2025, the University has continued its excellent record amid an 18% increase in the number of universities included - this year, more than 2500 universities from 130 countries were assessed.
The University of Tasmania is:
- First in the world for Climate Action
- First in the world for Lfe on Land
- Fourth in the world when ranked across all 17 goals
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rufus Black, said the University community has a deep commitment to contributing to a more sustainable and equitable world through its teaching, research, operations and partnerships.
"The transformative relationships that we have throughout the Tasmanian community and globally underpin our progress towards holistic sustainability.
"These ranking results affirm that there are real and measurable ways in which we can make a difference. We will continue to be ambitious in how we incorporate sustainability into the very fabric of how we work, both academically and operationally."
The Dean of the School of Natural Sciences , Professor Julianne O'Reilly-Wapstra, said research published in top-tier academic journals was a significant factor in the University's number one ranking in the Life on Land category.
"The rankings consider research done in sustainable forest management, biodiversity loss prevention, degraded land restoration and new techniques for ecosystem conservation," she said.
"This recognition against UN Sustainable Development Goals reflects the fact that our research intentionally targets today's most urgent climate-related questions. Our overarching aim is for local and global impact."
Academic publications from more than 650 University of Tasmania staff and PhD candidates contributed to the overall fourth ranking, and publications from over 250 people contributed to the number one rankings for Climate Action and Life on Land.
The University's sustainability program in community engagement, use of renewable energy and commitment to carbon neutrality are also considered to calculate the rankings.
University's Chief Sustainability Officer, Corey Peterson, said a number one global ranking for climate impact four years running had taken an enormous effort right across the university.
"Some notable examples this year, in addition to our research efforts, are our progress in the transition away from natural gas and towards renewables, our continuing certified carbon-neutral status, and education initiatives such as Curious Climate Schools," he said.
"There has been a major installation of photo-voltaic panels at the Tasmanian Dairy Research Facility at Elliott, on-campus farm to food projects with school students and community members, the construction of the Cradle Coast penguin habitat, outreach programs run by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and the popular AgriCULTURED festival at Inveresk. In terms of communication and reporting, we are now including a comprehensive section on sustainability in our annual report that is tabled in the Tasmanian Parliament."
The University has been certified carbon neutral since 2016, divested from fossil fuel investments in 2021, preferences investment that helps deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, has dramatically reduced embodied carbon in new buildings, and has committed to reducing gross carbon emissions by a minimum of 50 per cent by 2030 on a 2015 baseline.
In 2025, the University received these additional rankings against other Sustainable Development Goals:
- Fourteenth in the world for life below water
- Sixteenth in the world for affordable and clean energy
- In the top 25 in 6 SDGs
- In the top 100 in 14 SDGs
