According to the statement made by YÖK, Türkiye is including the scientific knowledge of the higher education system within the scope of COP31 preparations. Science diplomacy efforts to bring universities together with international academic circles continue.
Universities will play an important role in the fight against climate change at COP31, which will be hosted by Türkiye.
Before the summit, where all 208 universities of Türkiye were included in the process, UI GreenMetric 2026, an annual world university ranking system that measures and evaluates the environmental sustainability and green campus performances of universities at an international level, was announced.
UI GreenMetric 2026 results revealed the strong position of Turkish universities in the field of sustainability.
150 universities from Türkiye took part in UI GreenMetric 2026, where 2 thousand 16 higher education institutions from 110 countries were evaluated. Türkiye ranked first in Europe and second in the world in the number of universities in the top 200, top 500 and top 1000.
5 universities from Türkiye entered the world's top 100. Istanbul Technical University ranked 28th, Yıldız Technical University ranked 45th, Erciyes University ranked 63rd, Ege University ranked 74th and Özyeğin University ranked 86th.
Thus, while Istanbul Technical University and Yıldız Technical University were in the top 50 in the world, 21 universities from Türkiye were in the top 200, 53 universities were in the top 500, and 99 universities were in the top 1000.
This broad representation of Türkiye revealed that performance in the field of sustainability is not limited to the success of just a few universities, but spreads over a wide part of the higher education system.
Governance and digitalization came to the fore
In GreenMetric 2026, the "governance and digitalization" category was evaluated for the first time. The average success level of the 21 Turkish universities in the top 200 in this category was 90.2 percent.
Governance and digitalization were followed by education and research with 89.8 percent, transportation with 88 percent and water categories with 87.8 percent.
While the "governance and digitalization" category, which was added to the system in 2026, had a weight of 11 percent, it enabled sustainability performance to be evaluated together with corporate governance, transparency, digital transformation and data-based decision-making capacity.
The average success level of Turkish universities in the top 200 in the "energy and climate change" category was 80.3 percent.
The fact that the energy and climate change category has the highest weight in the GreenMetric evaluation with 20 percent makes energy efficiency, renewable energy use, greenhouse gas reduction and climate action plans important development areas for universities.
When GreenMetric 2025 and 2026 results were compared, the rise of some Turkish universities in the rankings also attracted attention.
Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University rose 81 places, from 254th to 173rd place. Mersin University rose by 63 places, Hasan Kalyoncu University by 60 places, Kütahya Health Sciences University by 55 places, Düzce University by 47 places and Sakarya University by 43 places.
On a category basis, Istanbul Technical University and Özyeğin University reached full points in the Governance and Digitalization field, while Istanbul Technical University, Yıldız Technical University and Kütahya Health Sciences University received maximum points in the Education and Research category.
Trakya University achieved full score in the Waste Management category, Sabancı University achieved full score in the Water Management category, and Başkent University achieved full score in the Campus Environment and Infrastructure category.
"We want to transform this strong position into new collaborations"
Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education, whose views were included in the statement, stated that the strong position of Turkish universities in international rankings in the field of sustainability constitutes a significant advantage in the COP31 process.
Pointing out the importance of Turkish universities sharing their experiences in the field of sustainability with higher education institutions in different countries of the world, Özvar said:
"The strong performance of our universities in international rankings such as GreenMetric shows the significant knowledge we have in the COP31 process. We want to use this knowledge not only to share our current successes, but also to develop new partnerships and joint studies with different universities of the world."
Özvar stated that COP31 is an important opportunity to establish permanent connections between universities in Türkiye and international academic circles, and pointed out that sharing the scientific knowledge and practical experiences produced by universities in the fight against climate change between countries will contribute to global climate action.
