{"id":610,"date":"2024-12-20T10:52:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T10:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/agrifood-futures\/?p=610"},"modified":"2025-09-09T10:56:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:56:04","slug":"reading-retains-top-five-sustainable-universities-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/agrifood-futures\/reading-retains-top-five-sustainable-universities-ranking\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading retains top five sustainable universities ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The latest People &amp; Planet University League table shows\u00a0the University of Reading\u00a0is\u00a0ranked as the fourth most sustainable university in the UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Reading has\u00a0retained\u00a0its position in the top five of the 2024\/2025 league table, a key\u00a0objective\u00a0for\u00a0the University. The table measures UK universities by their environmental and ethical performances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Strong policy and strategy, effective environmental auditing and a sustainable food programme were among the criteria\u00a0in\u00a0which\u00a0Reading scored top marks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Professor Robert Van de Noort, Vice Chancellor of the University of Reading, said: &#8220;This\u00a0is\u00a0a fantastic achievement for our staff, students and our local community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u201cReading was ranked first in the People &amp; Planet League table last year, but this did not mean our mission was complete. We have continued to work hard to further reduce our environmental footprint, support our community to work towards sustainability and ensure in every way possible we are helping to understand and address climate change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cAs much as it would be an honour to find ourselves at the top of the table again next year, we can live with finishing a bit lower if this means other universities are also becoming more sustainable and we are\u00a0all\u00a0making our world a better place to live.\u00a0Sustainability\u00a0is not a zero-sum game, and I hope all UK universities, businesses and individuals will quickly accelerate their own\u00a0sustainability\u00a0efforts as we continue to improve our own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The University ranked fourth in the People &amp; Planet University League table with a score of 74%. Reading was named the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reading.ac.uk\/news\/2024\/University-News\/Reading-named-Sunday-Times-Sustainable-University-of-the-Year-2025#:~:text=Reading%20named%20Sunday%20Times%20Sustainable,Year%202025%20%2D%20University%20of%20Reading\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sunday Times Sustainable University of the Year 2024<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0in September.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/peopleandplanet.org\/university-league\">View the full People &amp; Planet University League table<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The University of Reading has published its\u00a0latest\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/12\/B32319-Sustainability-Annual-Report-2023-24-JS-v4-accessible.pdf\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Environmental Sustainability Report<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, which summarises the progress made from August 2023 to July 2024 across a range of\u00a0measures\u00a0of sustainability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The report shows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-list-defn-props=\"{'335552541':1,'335559683':0,'335559684':-2,'335559685':720,'335559991':360,'469769226':'Symbol','469769242':[8226],'469777803':'left','469777804':'\uf0b7','469777815':'hybridMultilevel'}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">No direct or indirect fossil fuel investments by the University of Reading<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-list-defn-props=\"{'335552541':1,'335559683':0,'335559684':-2,'335559685':720,'335559991':360,'469769226':'Symbol','469769242':[8226],'469777803':'left','469777804':'\uf0b7','469777815':'hybridMultilevel'}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The University is ranked top 30 in the world in the\u00a0THE\u00a0Global Impact Rankings 2024.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-list-defn-props=\"{'335552541':1,'335559683':0,'335559684':-2,'335559685':720,'335559991':360,'469769226':'Symbol','469769242':[8226],'469777803':'left','469777804':'\uf0b7','469777815':'hybridMultilevel'}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Park Eat is on track to be our first catering building to have its gas supply disconnected<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-list-defn-props=\"{'335552541':1,'335559683':0,'335559684':-2,'335559685':720,'335559991':360,'469769226':'Symbol','469769242':[8226],'469777803':'left','469777804':'\uf0b7','469777815':'hybridMultilevel'}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Whiteknights campus has won 14 consecutive Green Flag awards<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest People &amp; Planet University League table shows\u00a0the University of Reading\u00a0is\u00a0ranked as the fourth most sustainable university in the UK.\u00a0 Reading has\u00a0retained\u00a0its position in the top five of the&#8230;<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"&#104;&#116;&#116;&#112;&#115;&#58;&#47;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#101;&#97;&#114;&#99;&#104;&#46;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#46;&#97;&#99;&#46;&#117;&#107;&#47;&#97;&#103;&#114;&#105;&#102;&#111;&#111;&#100;&#45;&#102;&#117;&#116;&#117;&#114;&#101;&#115;&#47;&#114;&#101;&#97;&#100;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#45;&#114;&#101;&#116;&#97;&#105;&#110;&#115;&#45;&#116;&#111;&#112;&#45;&#102;&#105;&#118;&#101;&#45;&#115;&#117;&#115;&#116;&#97;&#105;&#110;&#97;&#98;&#108;&#101;&#45;&#117;&#110;&#105;&#118;&#101;&#114;&#115;&#105;&#116;&#105;&#101;&#115;&#45;&#114;&#97;&#110;&#107;&#105;&#110;&#103;&#47;\">Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"coauthors":[16],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - 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