We identify with the UN SDGs

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 interlinked goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.”

The words 'Sustainable Development Goals' in blue, surrounded by a ring of 17 colourful symbols, each representing one the 17 goals.The SDGs are an urgent call to action by the UN for all countries to work together in a global partnership, and Macquarie University is playing its part.

Read our Annual Alignment with UN SDGs reports for details of how the work we do specifically aligns with each of the SDGs.

The 17 UN SDGs are:

1. no poverty
2. zero hunger
3. good health and wellbeing
4. quality education
5. gender equality
6. clean water and sanitation
7. affordable and clean energy
8. decent work and economic growth
9. industry, innovation and infrastructure

10. reduced inequalities
11. sustainable cities and communities
12. responsible consumption and production
13. climate action
14. life below water
15. life on land
16. peace, justice and strong institutions
17. partnerships for the goals.

Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Ranking

Each year Macquarie University is ranked globally for our performance against the SDG's in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings. In 2024, across 2,152 universities worldwide, we were ranked 24th globally and 6th in Australia.

Waste, water and energy operations

Macquarie University focuses its efforts on resource efficiency – using less, not creating more, whilst maintaining and enhancing the functional requirements and occupant experience. The focus is being efficient in what we use, whilst not overburdening the campus with infrastructure to create a resource we don’t require. Learn more about our resource efficiency trends.

The University has entered into an Energy Supply agreement with Red Energy (now Snowy Energy), which means our campus is supplied with electricity from a renewable source. This will reduce our overall annual carbon emissions by around 90 per cent.

Learning, teaching and research

Macquarie University is committed to embedding sustainability into every program we teach to ensure our students are equipped to meet the expectations of business, and deal with the complexities and challenges of today’s society.

In seeking to contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030), Macquarie University seeks to align its core activities of learning, teaching and research to the SDGs. According to data sourced from SciVal and Scopus, between 2017 and 2022, a total of 9,927 research publications by Macquarie University staff had some focus on Sustainable Development Goals 1–16.

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E: Sustainability unit