Lincoln recognised globally for ecological values

The global rankings assess universities against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to understand how they are making a positive impact in the world.

Due to its participation in five of the 17 SDGs, Lincoln University ranked 20 out of 402 institutions around the world against SDG 15, Life on Land. SDG 15 aims to sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and stop biodiversity loss.

For Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and Climate Action (SDG 13), Lincoln ranked in the top 100, scoring particularly highly for its sustainable practices including transport, commuting and new buildings to green standards. 

For SDG 2, Zero Hunger, the university ranked 31 out of 442, scoring 100 for contribution to national hunger. This score recognises the range of information, services, free events and technology on sustainable agriculture that are made available to local farmers and food producers.

Lincoln’s overall 2021 ranking of 101-200 out of 1,115 universities places it in the same bracket as last year’s result, although the number of universities participating in the rankings system has increased by 347.

While the university is pleased with the result, it is committed to making an even more significant contribution to global development through its world-class teaching and research.

Lincoln is co-hosting the 2020-2021 Aotearoa/Sustainable Development Goals Summit Series with the University of Canterbury, which includes several online hui and will culminate in an in-person event in September this year.

Most of the summit delegates are expected to visit the Lincoln campus to see first-hand the university’s activities in the SDG space.

The second hui took place last month and offered a reality check about Aotearoa New Zealand’s performance against the SDGs.