President's News

UCC named as one of the world's most ‘sustainable universities’

9 Dec 2020

University College Cork has been ranked as one of the most sustainable universities in the world. The UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, which examines sustainability practices in universities across the world and examines their work in reducing carbon footprint and helping combat climate change, has ranked UCC at ninth, the only Irish university to make the top 10 of the ‘greenest universities’ in the world. 

In 2007, UCC students first embarked on the Green Campus programme. In 2020, UCC celebrated 10 years since becoming the first University in the world to be awarded a Green Flag from the Foundation for Environmental Education.  Green Campus involves a seven-step programme and a cycle of continual improvement.  The University is home to Ireland’s first plastic-free café, which has prevented more than 20,000 disposable items going to waste since it opened in 2018. 

UCC aims to make every student aware of sustainable development through both formal and informal learning. UCC has a University Wide Module on Sustainability and all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are covered within its curriculum. UCC is one of Ireland’s leading research universities and 15% of all researchers in UCC are engaged in research that is directly related to the SDGs.  

In 2018 UCC was ranked as the first third level institution outside the US and Canada to win the gold Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). 

Over a decade ago we embarked on a course to inspire and educate our students and our community towards sustainability. We are proud to be Ireland’s greenest university and this ranking is due to the hard work of students and staff.

               - Interim President, Professor John O'Halloran

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