QS Insights Magazine

In an address to open the second week of COP30 in Brazil, UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell told delegates: “The time for performative diplomacy has now passed. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves, come together and get the job done.”

He additionally told those in attendance: “We absolutely cannot afford to waste time on tactical delays or stonewalling.”

You can sense the frustration in the words he chose. While not saying it explicitly, there is an implication that past COPs have ultimately been performative, in so far as the outcomes that were needed haven’t materialised. The latest projections indicate that the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit to global warming will be missed. Now, we all must take a look at how we are positively contributing to climate action.

This year’s COP has a few implications for higher education. The first is that the Belém Declaration will need universities’ expertise in achieving its ambitions. Looking to continue to work towards limiting global warming, the declaration also has a significant focus on equity and job creation. It explicitly states its goal to deliver “social equity by leaving no one behind”.

Skills transition, job development, social equity; these are areas universities have been playing in for some time. Higher education has long understood the intersectionality of environmental and social sustainability. Which means it also understands the second implication of the declaration: universities are both part of the solution to and part of the cause of the problem of carbon emissions.

This is a particularly painful realisation when we take into consideration the promise of international education is not only to teach skills and knowledge, but also create soft diplomacy and reduce Stiell’s frustrations on stonewalling. The question then, is what trade-offs need to be made and how can internationalisation become sustainable?

In this edition of QS Insights, we explore this very topic. We speak to leaders and stakeholders who are trying to reform the sector and provide new opportunities for international engagement. But, we also keep universities’ mission in mind, and explore how sustainability can be taught and embedded into the curriculum.

We also explore how universities can engage with student activists on campus. Importantly, we go in depth into the results from the latest QS Sustainability Rankings.

There is plenty more in the magazine, too, including Ban Ki-moon, who spoke at the recent QS Higher Ed Summit: Asia Pacific.

Stay insightful.

Anton is Editor in Chief of QS Insights. He has been writing on the international higher ed sector for over a decade. His recognitions include the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year at the National Press Club of Australia, and the International Education Association of Australia award for Excellence in Professional Commentary.

Contributors

Editor in Chief Anton John Crace

Clients Service Specialist Khushboo Singh

Contributing Writers Jamaal Abdul-Alim Nilly Castaño Claudia Civinini Prisha Dandwani Nick Harland Dr Ludovic Highman Julie Hoeflinger

Krusha Khakhar Gauri Kohli Chloë Lane Eugenia Lim Niamh Ollerton Wesley da Silva Siqueira Viggo Stacey

Events Technology Manager Loh Lu Han

Marketing and PR Serena Ricci Mak Leeson

Cover Produced with Adobe Firefly and ChatGPT

Magazine contact Publications @qs.com

Sales contact [email protected]

The QS Insights Magazine is a monthly, online and print publication that highlights trends within the international education sector.

The online edition is emailed to our network of academics and university leaders worldwide. A limited number of copies of the print edition are also sent to university leaders around the world and distributed at QS events.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

QS Insights Magazine

Contents

A positive student athlete journey can have a resounding impact across the campus.

It's time to reflect upon and celebrate our higher ed partnerships.

France's ESSEC Business School is preparing graduates for the future.

Coverage from Back to School 2025.

A new collaboration is exploring new ways to advance sustainable development.

The latest results from the 2026 QS Sustainability Rankings.

How QS' Sustainability Rankings are shaping Latin American and Caribbean higher ed.

Exeter’s Professor Tim Quine on curriculum, community and Future17.

Corvinus University of Budapest first ever Dean of Sustainability, Dr Katalin Ásványi

What can be done to broaden MBA graduate's ambitions and encourage them to choose careers for societal impact?

QS Higher Ed Summit APAC and Asia Rankings

QS Insights Magazine

Contents

A positive student athlete journey can have a resounding impact across the campus.

France's ESSEC Business School is preparing graduates for the future.

It's time to reflect upon and celebrate our higher ed partnerships.

Coverage from Back to School 2025.

A new collaboration is exploring new ways to advance sustainable development.

The latest results from the 2026 QS Sustainability Rankings.

How QS' Sustainability Rankings are shaping Latin American and Caribbean higher ed.

Exeter’s Professor Tim Quine on curriculum, community and Future17.

Corvinus University of Budapest first ever Dean of Sustainability, Dr Katalin Ásványi

What can be done to broaden MBA graduate's ambitions and encourage them to choose careers for societal impact?

QS Higher Ed Summit APAC and Asia Rankings

If not now, when?

Can internationalization become sustainable?

Contributors