Understanding how climate actions are perceived within higher education institutions is critical for designing effective sustainability strategies and fostering climate leadership among students and staff. Although numerous studies have explored aspects of sustainability in universities, a systematic synthesis focused specifically on climate action perceptions remains underdeveloped. This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review to identify the most relevant works addressing the perception of climate actions within higher education institutions. The methodology involved utilizing the Web of Science database, initially identifying 784 papers. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 691 articles were analyzed employing the VOSviewer software to cluster keywords. Subsequently, the Methodi Ordinatio approach was applied to select, filter, and classify articles based on the ordinatio index equation, focusing on those with the highest scientific significance. The bibliometric analysis revealed three distinct thematic clusters: studies examining the perception of climate risks (the largest group with 37 articles), works on the perception of climate actions, and studies centered on education for sustainability within universities. The study resulted in a curated selection of 47 scientific articles, with ordinatio index scores ranging from 10.2 to 91.1, providing a clear overview of the predominant thematic areas and the evolution of research on climate perceptions in higher education.