Sustainability Awards and Rankings

In FY 2022-2023,  UC campuses were ranked as leaders in sustainability by a wide range of organizations and publications.

Download the full list of 2022-2023 UC campus rankings, ratings, and awards (pdf).

Highlights from 2022–2023:

  • UC Berkeley ranked #1 out of 700 in the first ever Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings: Sustainability. This ranking assesses an institution’s environmental sustainability in operations, education, and research and social impact areas of equality, knowledge exchange, impact of education, employment and quality of life.
  • UC Davis ranked #1 in North America and #5 globally in the 2022 UI Greenmetric Rankings. This ranking received high marks in waste and water against the other scoring criteria, including setting & infrastructure, energy & climate change, and transportation.
  • UC Irvine ranked #3 in Overall Performance as Doctoral Institution for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainable Campus Index (pdf).
  • UCLA received the #6 ranking (and #1 in university fleets) in the 2023 Green Fleet Award,
  • UC Merced ranked #10 nationally in the Princeton Review 2024 Top 50 Green Colleges ranking. 
  • UC Riverside tied #8 top performer in Water for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainable Campus Index (pdf).
  • UC San Diego received five awards for the North Torrey Pines Living & Learning Neighborhood for its commitment to sustainability including a spot in the 2023 COTE Top Ten from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
  • UC San Francisco received a 2023 Best Workplace for Commuters recognition for three locations from the Commuters National Standard of Excellence.
  • UC Santa Barbara tied #10 top performers in Investment and Finance, alongside UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC Santa Cruz for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainable Campus Index (pdf).
  • UC Santa Cruz tied #3 top performers in Research, alongside UC Irvine, UC Merced and UC San Diego, for the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's (AASHE) Sustainable Campus Index (pdf). 
  • The overall UC Health System received a Circles of Excellence Award in Food from Practice Greenhealth.
  • UC Davis Health and UC San Diego Health are recognized by Practice Greenhealth as Top 25 in the nation in Environmental Excellence as Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award honorees.
  • UC Irvine Health received Sustainability Initiative of the Year from Business Intelligence Group’s 2023 Sustainability Awards for implementing sustainable initiatives in Culinary Services including food donations, promoting plant-based meals, reducing waste, recycling, and eliminating plastic.  
  • UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center received a Greening the OR Recognition Award for implementing systems designed to reduce harmful anesthetic gas as well as practices to improve recycling and waste reduction from Practice Greenhealth. 
  • UC San Francisco Health received the Greenhealth Emerald Award for its 14th consecutive year, which recognizes outstanding hospitals and is focused on advanced sustainability programs and exemplary scores across a range of categories, from Practice Greenhealth.
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory received a 2022 Innovative Approach to Sustainability Award, Honorable Mention from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for their Sustainability Data Integration, Organization, Processing, Analytics, and Visualization Project.