Global Sustainability

Global sustainability is a degree that takes the challenge of living within planetary limits as its central organising concern, drawing on the natural sciences, social sciences, economics and policy analysis to understand both the scale of the problem and the range of possible responses. Climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, pollution and the social inequalities that both drive and result from environmental degradation are all in scope, and the discipline asks not just what is happening to the Earth's systems but what can and should be done about it and by whom. At the University of Exeter, this three-year full-time degree includes a sandwich year, a year abroad and a work placement, making it one of the most practically and internationally enriched sustainability programmes available in the UK.

You will engage with the natural science of environmental change alongside the social, economic and governance dimensions of sustainability transitions. Questions of energy systems, food security, urban sustainability, environmental finance, international climate agreements and the politics of environmental policy run through the curriculum, developing your ability to analyse complex social-environmental problems from multiple perspectives. Exeter has particular research strengths in climate and environmental science, and the programme benefits from those connections.

The placement gives you professional experience in a sustainability-relevant context, and the year abroad develops your international perspective on global challenges. A typical entry tariff of around 152 points is expected.

Graduates work in sustainability consultancy, environmental organisations, international development, corporate sustainability roles, government and policy, research and journalism. The combination of environmental understanding and social science analysis is valued across public, private and voluntary sector organisations that are navigating the transition to more sustainable ways of operating. Many graduates proceed to postgraduate study in sustainability, environmental policy, climate science or international development, deepening their expertise before moving into specialist roles.