- The UI GreenMetric 2026 results, announced as all 208 Turkish universities are being brought into the COP31 process, demonstrate the strong position of Turkish universities in sustainability

- Of the 150 Turkish universities included in the ranking, five placed among the world’s top 100, 21 among the top 200, 53 among the top 500, and 99 among the top 1,000

- CoHE President Erol Özvar: “The strong international standing of Turkish universities in sustainability will provide an important foundation for new academic partnerships at COP31”

September 27, 2026

Universities will play an important role in addressing climate change at COP31, which will be hosted by Türkiye. The UI GreenMetric 2026 results, announced ahead of the summit as all 208 Turkish universities are being brought into the process, demonstrated the strong position of Turkish universities in sustainability. Türkiye ranked first in Europe and second worldwide in the number of universities placed in the top 200, top 500 and top 1,000.

As part of its preparations for COP31, Türkiye is incorporating the scientific expertise of its higher education system into the process. Efforts to bring universities together with international academic communities through science diplomacy initiatives are continuing.

Against this backdrop, the performance of Turkish universities in sustainability and the green transition stands out as one of the key factors supporting Türkiye’s academic visibility at COP31.

- Türkiye at the top of Europe in sustainability rankings

A total of 150 universities from Türkiye were included in the UI GreenMetric 2026 ranking, which evaluated 2,016 higher education institutions from 110 countries.

Türkiye ranked first in Europe and second worldwide in the number of universities placed in the top 200, top 500 and top 1,000.

Five Turkish universities made the world’s top 100. Istanbul Technical University ranked 28th, Yıldız Technical University 45th, Erciyes University 63rd, Ege University 74th, and Özyeğin University 86th.

Thus, while Istanbul Technical University and Yıldız Technical University made the world’s top 50, 21 Turkish universities ranked in the top 200, 53 in the top 500, and 99 in the top 1,000.

This broad representation demonstrated that performance in sustainability is not limited to the achievements of a handful of universities, but has spread across a substantial part of Türkiye’s higher education system.

- Governance and digitalization stand out

For the first time, the “Governance and Digitalization” category was included in the UI GreenMetric 2026 evaluation. The 21 Turkish universities in the top 200 achieved an average score of 90.2 percent in this category.

“Governance and Digitalization” was followed by “Education and Research” at 89.8 percent, “Transportation” at 88 percent, and “Water” at 87.8 percent.

The “Governance and Digitalization” category, added to the system in 2026, accounted for 11 percent of the overall weighting. Its inclusion enabled sustainability performance to be assessed together with institutional governance, transparency, digital transformation, and data-driven decision-making capacity.

The average performance of the Turkish universities in the top 200 in the “Energy and Climate Change” category was 80.3 percent.

As “Energy and Climate Change” carries the highest weighting in the GreenMetric evaluation at 20 percent, energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, and climate action plans are becoming important areas for further development at universities.

- Notable improvements by Turkish universities

A comparison of the GreenMetric 2025 and 2026 results also highlights significant improvements by several Turkish universities.

Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University rose 81 places, from 254th to 173rd. Mersin University climbed 63 places, Hasan Kalyoncu University 60 places, Kütahya University of Health Sciences 55 places, Düzce University 47 places, and Sakarya University 43 places.

By category, Istanbul Technical University and Özyeğin University achieved full scores in “Governance and Digitalization”, while Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University, and Kütahya University of Health Sciences received maximum scores in “Education and Research”.

Trakya University achieved a full score in “Waste Management”, Sabancı University in “Water Management”, and Başkent University in the “Campus Setting and Infrastructure” category.

- Özvar: “We want to turn this strong position into new partnerships”

CoHE President Erol Özvar stated that the strong position achieved by Turkish universities in international sustainability rankings would provide an important advantage during the COP31 process.

Emphasizing the importance of sharing Türkiye’s universities’ experience in sustainability with higher education institutions in different parts of the world, Özvar said, “The strong performance demonstrated by our universities in international rankings such as GreenMetric reflects an important body of knowledge and experience that we bring to the COP31 process. We want to make use of this experience not only to share our existing achievements, but also to develop new partnerships and joint initiatives with universities around the world.”

Özvar stated that COP31 represented an important opportunity to establish lasting connections between Turkish universities and international academic communities. He added that sharing the scientific knowledge and practical experience generated by universities in the fight against climate change across countries would contribute to global climate action.