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Sustainable Development Goals

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United Nations

Sustainable Development Goals

Using the UN's Sustainable Development Goals as a framework helps us articulate the positive sustainability impacts of our research and teaching

Sustainable Development Goals

In consulting about our Aberdeen 2040 strategy, our academic and student community highlighted the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework that should inform our academic and operational sustainability activities.

We are committed to working with the SDGs to help us articulate the positive sustainability impacts of our research and teaching, and to help us prioritise improvements in operational practice.

Annual Report

Our Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Annual Reports are published every autumn and showcase research, curriculum, community, and operational initiatives. The stories shared reflect the breadth of activity happening across the University of Aberdeen that have a positive impact on one or more of the SDGs. We intend to continue reporting annually on our progress and to work to find new ways to embed the SDGs in everything that we do.

Times Higher Education Impact Rankings

We entered the inaugural Times Higher Education Impact Rankings in 2019 and have participated actively since. We welcome the increased awareness these rankings have given to the UN SDGs across the global HE sector.

In the 2025 edition we ranked among the top 100 universities in the world for our support of the Sustainable Development Goals:

  • From 1,963 institutions ranked globally, we placed 84th in the world and 14th in the UK

The University is ranked for its three strongest (scaled) SDGs along with SDG17 which is mandatory.

  • SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production (18th globally)
  • SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities (49th globally)
  • SDG 15 Life on Land (55th globally)
  • SDG 17 Partnership for the Goals (101-200th globally)

The University has also been ranked within the top 100 in the world for a further three SDGs:

  • SDG 13 Climate Action (50th globally)
  • SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities (=87th globally)
  • SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation (89th globally)
SDG Accord

As part of the formal launch of our Aberdeen 2040 strategy, we signed the global SDG Accord (external site).

In June 2020, we submitted our first annual SDG Accord Report. That exercise saw us collate examples of activity across all 17 SDGS for the first time, and served as the template for the development of our own stand-along annual SDG Reports - first published in late 2021.

Courses & Programmes

The University of Aberdeen offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and programmes that relate to sustainability and to activities designed to address the Sustainable Development Goals. These include:

Undergraduate Courses

For a full listing of courses relating to sustainability and for courses mapping on to our strategic “sustainability” theme, type the word “sustainable” into the search bar here https://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/courses/

 

Postgraduate Degree Programmes

Biological Sciences

Business, Law and Social Science

Partnerships for the Goals - SDG 17

We work at regional, national and international level with governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to influence public policy developments, positively impacting and addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We participate in cross-sectoral dialogue and collaboration with international partners to gather, measure and analyse data in support of the SDGs. Through impactful research programmes and  extensive research partnerships, we help develop international best practice that contributes across all 17 SDGs, and we collaborate with numerous partners, including NGOS, to develop educational resources that support communities in the UK and overseas, as well as providing our students with volunteering and skills development opportunities to enhance the positive contributions they can make.