Lagos State University (LASU) has retained its No. 1 position in West Africa after rising from 760th to 493rd among 2,016 universities in the 2026 UI GreenMetric Sustainable University Rankings.
The result was announced at the 2026 results and awards ceremony in Baku, Azerbaijan, after the university recorded progress in areas used to assess sustainability in higher education.
The new position puts LASU among 2,016 institutions from 110 countries assessed in the ranking. It also gives the university its biggest one-year improvement since it entered the ranking in 2022.
From 760th to 493rd
LASU was ranked 760th globally in 2025. Its 2026 position means it has climbed 267 places within a year.
The university was ranked 799th globally in 2024. It then rose to 760th in 2025 before reaching 493rd in 2026.
The three-year record shows a rise of 306 places from the university’s 2024 position.
LASU has also held the top position in West Africa throughout its participation in the ranking. It first took the position in 2022 and has kept it through the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 ranking cycles.
What the ranking measures
The UI GreenMetric ranking does not assess universities on academic performance alone. It examines how institutions handle different parts of their physical operations, environmental responsibilities and governance.
Its 2026 assessment covered Setting and Infrastructure, Energy and Climate Change, Waste, Water, Transportation, Education, and Governance and Digitalisation.
This means LASU’s position was based on performance across several areas of university life. The assessment looks at how sustainability is handled within university operations and education.
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The university’s progress also comes after another international recognition in August 2026.
LASU’s National and Regional Coordinatorship of the UI GreenMetric network was renewed for the 2026/2027 academic session. The university was also elevated to Co-Chairmanship of key sessions at UI GreenMetric international events during the same academic session.
The ranking involves more than the university’s management because the areas assessed cover activities involving staff and students.
LASU said the result was achieved through the work of its management, staff, students, units and committees involved in its sustainability agenda.
The university’s progress gives those groups a higher position in a global ranking that includes institutions from 110 countries.
The result provides a record of its performance in sustainability across the five ranking cycles since it entered the system.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Ayodeji Olawunmi Badejo congratulated the LASU community and praised those whose contributions had supported the university’s sustainability agenda.
The university also said the result supports its ambition to remain a leading institution in Africa and in the global higher education system.
What readers should know
The most important change in the 2026 result is LASU’s global position. The university moved from 760th in 2025 to 493rd in 2026.
That is a 267-place improvement in a single year. It is also the first time LASU has been ranked inside the global top 500 in the figures provided.
Its regional position has not changed. LASU has remained No. 1 in West Africa in every UI GreenMetric ranking it has entered since 2022.
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