The University of South Africa (Unisa) and the University of Pretoria (UP) have improved their rankings in terms of their performance regarding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This is according to the recently released Times Higher Education (THE) Sustainability Impact Ratings 2026.

Unisa retained its spot in the top half worldwide and in the top 200 regarding two of these goals, while UP strengthened its position as the second-highest-ranked institution in the country.

SDGs are a collection of 17 interconnected global objectives adopted by all 193 United Nations (UN) Member States in 2015.

They serve as a universal blueprint to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by the deadline of 2030.

The SDGs are split into three categories: societal issues, environmental issues and economic issues as well.

The social issues category outlines eight key goals. These include eradicating extreme poverty worldwide, ending malnutrition, and developing reliable and sustainable food systems. It also prioritises ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for people of all ages.

Further goals in this category focus on providing inclusive, equitable, and accessible education for all, achieving full gender equality, and empowering women and girls. Promoting peaceful societies and ensuring access to justice for everyone are also central objectives.

In addition, the category highlights the need to secure access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy, as well as to make urban human settlements safe, resilient, and inclusive.

The main environmental goals include ensuring universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation systems, as well as taking urgent, structural action to combat climate change and its global impact.

They also focus on conserving and sustainably managing oceans, seas, and marine resources. In addition, the goals aim to protect, restore, and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and forests.

The listed economic goals are fostering sustained, inclusive economic growth and productive employment, building resilient infrastructure and fostering sustainable industrialisation, reducing wealth and opportunity gaps within and between countries, and ensuring sustainable consumption patterns and reducing resource waste.

The goals that cut across all sectors include strengthening global co-ordination, technology sharing, and financial resource mobilisation to achieve all objectives

THE is the only global ranking measuring worldwide institutions’ advancement of sustainability.

The 2026 rankings evaluated 1 646 universities from 116 countries and territories across 17 individual SDG tables and one overall ranking.

Thirteen South African universities were featured in the THE ratings, with the University of Johannesburg ranked first in the country and 39th globally.

UP ranked at 78th.

UP Vice-Chancellor and Principal Francis Petersen said its ranking is a reflection of its commitment to helping solve the issues that South Africans face daily, and cultivating professionals who will set out to do the same.

In the overall rating, Unisa again improved its score and moved up from the 601-800 band to the 401-600 band.

In a statement published by Unisa, it said the impact ratings results indicated a strong upward trend for Unisa, mirroring its continued improvement in various international university rankings. It also speaks to performance in terms of the SDGs, which it said is a key aspect of Unisa’s journey towards becoming the African university in the service of humanity.

Other top performers include the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand, which are both ranked third in South Africa.

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