The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings used environmental protection and sustainable development as indicators to evaluate each participating university in six categories: setting and infrastructure (15%), energy and climate change (21%), waste (18%), water (10%), transportation (18%), and education (18%). This year, a total of 956 colleges and universities from 80 countries worldwide participated, and 26 universities from Taiwan made the list. According to the ranking results, NCNU ranked 31st globally, an improvement of 10 places compared to the 2020 ranking. It is the first time that NCNU is ranked top 40 in the world, with an overall global ranking rising to the top 3.2%. The eye-catching result achieved in fierce competitions indicates that NCNU's campus culture of sustainable development has been recognized internationally.

This year’s highlight was NCNU’s second ranking globally in the setting and infrastructure category, an improvement from last year’s 1,325 points to 1,375 points this year. It is evident that NCNU is focused on sustainable development and has established a sustainable campus with local characteristics based on rich, natural resources and excellent environmental management. NCNU strives for the campus development goals of sustainable sites, ecological friendliness, smart recycling, energy resource management, safety and health, and environmental education. The establishment of comprehensive pollution control and prevention strategies, as well as resource regeneration facilities, demonstrates excellent campus operations, maintenance, and management.

In terms of energy and climate change, NCNU scored as the top in Taiwan with 1,500 points last year and 1,600 points this year. In response to the goal of net-zero emissions and carbon neutrality by 2050, NCNU is actively building solar green power facilities. In the future, the new facilities are expected to have a power generation capacity of 8.9 megawatts (MW). As for waste management, this year’s score of 1,500 points was the same as that of last year. In the water category, NCNU scored 850 points last year and 900 points this year. Through the sewage treatment system, the quality of the domestic wastewater discharged after treatment is far better than that required by law. The reclaimed water and rainwater reuse systems are linked for irrigation and toilet flushing, with reclaimed water usage reaching 80%. NCNU has evidently made tremendous progress in recent years on water treatment, water conservation, and the implementation of new handwashing measures for epidemic prevention.