The second Sustainables City Index, compiled by think-tank Forum for the Future, ranked the 20 largest British cities on a selection of indicators, including recycling, air quality, ecological footprint and local authority commitments to climate change.

Bristol replaced last year’s winner and this year’s runner-up, Brighton and Hove, while the bottom half of the table was made up entirely of northern cities. Newcastle bucked the trend, rising from eighth to fourth, but Edinburgh and Leeds suffered the biggest drop down the table, from second to sixth, and from fifth to 14th respectively.

Leeds performed consistently worse, relative to others cities in the environmental index indicators, partly due to the change in air quality data, which has altered from a measure of levels of particulate matter to levels of nitrogen oxide.

Plymouth – third overall – tops the environmental basket, while Wolverhampton – 16th overall – improved most significantly from 20th to 11th. This was largely because of the change in the air pollution indicator.

Fourteen cities cut their waste collection, with Bristol reducing by 30kgs per head, and Newcastle and Wolverhampton by more than 20kgs per head. However, Bradford and Birmingham are heading in the ‘wrong’ direction, with increases of 20kms per head.

The index also ranked cities on ‘future proofing’, which aims to reflect how well they are preparing for the future. Brighton and Hove topped the future proofing table, while Leicester was the highest riser from 17th to joint sixth. This was partly due to the council’s introduction of ring-fenced resources for roles and budgets devoted to addressing climate change. Leicester also made significant improvement in recycling rates -– up by 11% – along with Bristol and Newcastle.

However, the report warns the top performers not to rest on their laurels, and stresses an ‘urgent’ need for more shining examples in the UK. : http://www.forumforthefuture.org/files/Sustainable_Cities_051108_links_final.pdf