QS Sustainability, Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings and UI GreenMetric all assess “sustainable universities”, but they do not measure the same construct. It is therefore normal for the same institution to occupy very different positions across the three systems.
In brief: QS combines environmental, social and governance dimensions; THE assesses progress across the 17 UN SDGs; UI GreenMetric 2026 focuses heavily on campus sustainability operations such as energy, waste, water, transport, education and governance.
What does QS Sustainability measure?
The QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026 presents three broad dimensions—Environmental Impact, Social Impact and Governance—and reports nine indicator scores including Environmental Sustainability, Environmental Education, Environmental Research, Equality, Knowledge Exchange, Impact of Education, Employability & Opportunities, Health & Wellbeing and Good Governance.
What does THE Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026 measure?
THE renamed its former Impact Rankings as the Sustainability Impact Ratings in 2026. The system evaluates how universities advance all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The overall score combines:
- SDG 17 = 22%
- the institution’s best three other SDGs = 26% each
Different universities can therefore be assessed using different combinations of their strongest SDGs. THE also states that the overall result uses an average of the past two years’ total scores.
What does UI GreenMetric 2026 measure?
UI GreenMetric Sustainable University Rankings 2026 uses seven weighted categories:
- Setting and Infrastructure 11%
- Energy and Climate Change 20%
- Waste 17%
- Water 11%
- Transportation 17%
- Education and Research 13%
- Governance and Digitalization 11%
Why do the rankings differ?
They use different units of analysis, evidence and scoring frameworks. QS takes a broad environmental-social-governance view; THE organises performance around the SDGs; UI GreenMetric examines detailed campus-management practices.
Which system should a university use?
- Campus operations: UI GreenMetric
- SDG contribution: THE Sustainability Impact Ratings
- Environmental, social and governance overview: QS Sustainability
Conclusion
No single sustainability ranking can substitute for the others. The useful question is not “Which ranking is best?” but “Which sustainability dimension are we trying to measure?”
Official sources
- QS Sustainability Rankings 2026
- THE Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026
- THE methodology
- UI GreenMetric 2026 guideline
Verified: 5 November 2026