Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals tackle global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice. Massey University is strongly committed to the achievement of these goals and shows this in many ways.
Aotearoa Sustainability Declaration
Aotearoa Sustainability Declaration
Signed the Aotearoa Sustainability Declaration at the 2021 Aotearoa SDG Summit.
Master of Sustainable Development Goals
Master of Sustainable Development Goals
Launched Australasia’s first Master of Sustainable Development Goals in 2020.
Learn more about the Master of Sustainable Development Goals
Climate Action Plan
Climate Action Plan
Aiming for Net Carbon Zero by 2030 in our Climate Action Plan.
Green Impact programme
Green Impact programme
Actively participating in the Green Impact programme – an award-winning UN program promoting environmentally and socially sustainable practices.
Researching ways to advance the SDGs
Researching ways to advance the SDGs
Issue 4 of Massey’s biennial magazine Rangahau features over 30 academics and teams actively working on the goals.
Read about Massey academics who are progressing toward the SDGs
This multifaceted commitment highlights Massey's proactive role in addressing global challenges, aligning the university’s actions with the principles and objectives of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
SDGs and Times Higher Education Impact Rankings
Massey University is actively integrating the SDGs into its research, learning and teaching, and sustainability strategies. These sustainability initiatives led to an Impact Ranking of 84th equal in the world and third in Aotearoa New Zealand in the 2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings.
The Impact Rankings are assessed across the 4 main areas for each SDG:
- research
- stewardship
- outreach
- teaching
A high ranking is not an end in itself. Instead, we see it as a way of measuring how sustainable we are; how we incorporate sustainability into our teaching, research and university life, and how we contribute to the tackling the world’s greatest environmental, social and governance challenges.
In achieving its global 84th equal rank, Massey now has 1x SDG ranked in the top 10 globally, 3x SDGs in the top 50 and further 3x SDGs in the top 100.
Massey is ranked 10th equal for SDG2 Zero Hunger, up from 13th last year. Ranked in the top 50 are SDG13 Climate Action (33rd equal), SDG5 Gender Equality (42nd equal) and SDG 15 Life on Land (49th equal).
Rounding out Massey’s top 100 rankings are SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities (54th equal), SDG14 Life Below Water (73rd equal) and SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy (80th equal).
Read more about our 2025 results
See the latest Time Higher Education Impact Rankings
Find all of Massey’s rankings information on our world ranking page
QS Sustainability rankings
Massey University is ranked 131st globally out of 2,001 participating institutions in the 2026 QS Sustainability Rankings.
Massey is ranked 136th equal globally for our Social Impact, 142nd equal for our Environmental Impact and 104th equal for our governance. Massey is ranked in the top 100 globally for Impact of Education (86th) and Equality (89th equal) within the Social Impact category.
Similar to the THE Impact Rankings, the QS Sustainability Rankings framework assesses how institutes align their teaching, research and governance with the SDGs to tackle the world’s biggest environmental, social and governance issues.
Read more about Massey’s latest QS Sustainability results
See the latest QS Sustainability rankings results
You can find all of Massey’s rankings information on our world rankings page
Online sustainability report
This section serves as Massey University’s Online Sustainability Report, showcasing our progress and impact across the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Each SDG icon below links to detailed evidence and initiatives demonstrating our commitment to sustainability in teaching, research, operations and community engagement.
Please click on each SDG icon below to explore Massey University’s actions, achievements and evidence contributing to that goal.
These pages were last updated in November 2025.
