The University of Liverpool has been ranked among the UK’s top 50 for its environmental and ethical performance in the annual People & Planet University League.
In the 2023/24 People & Planet University League, released yesterday (13th December 2023), the University is ranked 47th, improving its score from last year and retaining its ‘2.1 class’ sustainability status.
The People & Planet University League is an award-winning sustainability ranking of all the UK’s universities. Each year institutions are ranked by their environmental and ethical performance. This year, 151 UK universities were assessed with Liverpool ranking 47th in the UK, 12th amongst Russell Group universities, 5th in the North West region and 1st in Liverpool.
Universities are scored across 14 criteria, with Liverpool performing particularly well in 4 areas, achieving 100% for Auditing and Environmental Management Systems, Sustainability Staff and HR, Education for Sustainable Development and Staff and Student Engagement. The University also achieved high scores in a number of other categories, including 70% for Energy Sources, 65% for Workers’ Rights and 60% for Sustainable Food.
Nicola Davies, Chief Financial Officer and Chair of the Sustainability Board said: “I am delighted that we are ranked in the top 50 universities in the UK and 12th in the Russell Group for sustainability. The results come just a week after the University jumped 100 places and ranked 50th globally for its environmental and social impact in the annual QS Sustainability Rankings. This is a fantastic end to the year, and with sustainability included as a cross-cutting theme in Liverpool 2031, we are in a great position to make significant progress in our sustainability goals over the next 12 months”
The results of the People & Planet University league are based on publicly available information taken from the university website, and data submitted to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Estates Management Record (EMR), during a period between July and August 2023. The University has made significant progress since then which can help boost scores yet again next year, including the recruitment of a dedicated Waste and Recycling Officer who has been focussed on improving waste data, which will be reflected in the next EMR data return. The upcoming Sustainability Strategy refresh will include SMART targets for reducing environmental impact across key areas, which will also help to improve our scores. The results will be used to identify further areas for improvement.
The full rankings can be found here.
The People & Planet full methodological breakdown for the University League can be found here.
Find out more
If you want to know more about our work on sustainability, please visit: www.liverpool.ac.uk/sustainability or email sustainability@liverpool.ac.uk