Trinity has been ranked as the 10th-best university in the world when it comes to climate change action, according to a list released today by the Times Higher Education.
Trinity also finished 18th in the world for its partnerships with other organisations, meaning it finished 28th on the overall University Rankings list compiled by the Times Higher Education.
The table measures universities for the quality of their climate change research, their energy usage, and how prepared they are for the consequences of climate change.
The University of British Columbia, situated in Canada, topped the table on climate change, while the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Buffalo, both US universities, completed the top three.
Two other Irish universities finished in the top 100: Dublin City University (DCU) placed 28th, while University College Cork (UCC) was ranked 98th.
Japan’s universities were the best-represented on the list with 25 institutions ranked. The UK’s universities were the second-best with 17 universities, while 16 US universities made the list.
Elsewhere, UCC came first in the world for Responsible Consumption and Production and 21st in the world in a category entitled Creating a Sustainable Future. DCU finished 98th for Social and Economic Impact.
In September 2018, Trinity slipped from 117th to 120th in the world on the Times Higher Education’s list of world university rankings. It came after College finished outside the top 100 of the QS World University Rankings for a first-ever time last June.
At a “state of the College” address in November, the last before the end of his tenure in 2020, Provost Patrick Prendergast hit out at the rankings, calling them “reductive” and insisting that Trinity is “undervalued” by their criteria.
During his speech, Prendergast said College’s persistent slide down the rankings is a “paradox” and said the rankings are taking time “to catch up with all we’ve done”.
