Sustainable Development Goals at Baku State University.

UI GreenMetrics 2025

Baku State University (BSU) has been ranked 493rd globally in the 2025 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings, demonstrating a significant improvement from its 607th position in 2024. BSU achieved an overall sustainability performance score of 68.75% (6,875 out of 10,000 points), reflecting the university's continued progress in integrating sustainability into campus operations, governance, education, research, and environmental management.

• Global Ranking: 493rd

• Overall Score: 6,875 / 10,000 (68.75%)

• Country Ranking (Azerbaijan): 1st

2. Category Performance

BSU's performance across the six UI GreenMetric indicators is summarized below.

These figures indicate substantial improvements in several sustainability dimensions compared with the previous year.

Key strengths

• Transportation (TR): Outstanding performance with 90.3% of the available score and an excellent 98th place worldwide, placing BSU among the world's leading universities in sustainable transportation.

• Education & Research (ED): Excellent achievement (86.8%) with a global ranking of 239, reflecting strong integration of sustainability into teaching, research, community engagement, and institutional governance.

• Water Management (WR): Good performance (66.3%) and global ranking of 607, demonstrating effective water conservation and management initiatives.

Areas for further improvement

• Energy & Climate Change (EC): Although the score increased compared to 2024, this remains BSU's weakest category (47.6%, global rank 1102), indicating the need for greater investment in renewable energy, carbon reduction, and green buildings.

• Waste Management (WS): Moderate performance (59.7%, rank 654) suggests opportunities to strengthen recycling systems, waste treatment, and circular economy practices.

• Setting & Infrastructure (SI): Continued enhancement of green spaces, sustainable infrastructure, and campus planning would further improve performance.

3. Historical Trend

BSU has demonstrated continuous improvement in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings.

The university improved by 114 positions between 2024 and 2025, and by 690 positions over the last two years. This upward trajectory reflects the successful implementation of sustainability policies, stronger institutional governance, expanded sustainability reporting, and improved performance across most assessment categories.

4. National Position (Azerbaijan)

In the 2025 UI GreenMetric Rankings, Baku State University is ranked 1st in Azerbaijan overall, confirming its position as the country's leading university in sustainability.

Category rankings within Azerbaijan are:

These results demonstrate that BSU has established national leadership in sustainable transportation and overall sustainability performance, while Energy & Climate Change remains the principal area requiring strategic investment and institutional attention.

5. Conclusion

The 2025 UI GreenMetric World University Rankings mark a major milestone for Baku State University. Achieving 493rd place globally, 1st place in Azerbaijan, and an overall sustainability score of 68.75%, BSU has significantly strengthened its international sustainability profile compared with previous years. The university demonstrates exceptional performance in Transportation and Education & Research, while maintaining solid achievements in Water Management, Waste Management, and Setting & Infrastructure.

Despite these accomplishments, Energy & Climate Change continues to represent the university's greatest opportunity for improvement. Expanding renewable energy deployment, improving energy efficiency, implementing additional green building initiatives, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be critical to enhancing future performance.

With its consistent upward trajectory and continued commitment to sustainable development, BSU is well positioned to further strengthen its global competitiveness and emerge as one of the leading sustainable universities in the wider region.