Sheffield earns title of UK's greenest city

Sheffield has been named as the greenest city in the United Kingdom.

The city, once the steel-making capital of the world, was found to be the most eco-friendly for residents in a new study commissioned by NatWest, which analysed the U.K.'s most populous cities and ranked them using a range of environmental data such as green space, energy use and production, motor vehicles, waste and recycling, commuting travel, and pollution.

Sheffield takes the top spot thanks to 22,600 acres of green space a high volume of renewable energy production, and a high percentage of Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) vehicles.

Edinburgh and Cardiff came in second and third and the top five was rounded out by Brighton & Hove and Bristol, respectively.

London ranked 11th thanks to a high number of ULEZ vehicles per capita, people commuting via bicycle and Londoners producing a relatively low amount of waste per person compared to other cities.

Wolverhampton was found to be the least eco-friendly of the 25 cities studied.

Lead researcher Professor William Powrie told the Metro: "Extreme weather events of the past year and the focus on sustainability ahead of COP26 have brought home the need for changes in the way we live if we are to mitigate the effects of the twin environmental catastrophes of climate change and loss of biodiversity.

"We have run out of time and the changes need to be made now.

"Our list will enable cities and people to reflect on their progress towards behaving sustainably.

"Simple changes can make a big difference – walking, cycling or using public transport rather than going by car and using less and recycling more – but we all need to get involved."

Here are the full rankings in order according to NatWest’s Green Cities report:

1 Sheffield

2 Edinburgh

3 Cardiff

4 Brighton & Hove

5 Bristol

6 Leeds

7 Glasgow

8 Nottingham

9 Newcastle upon Tyne

10 Belfast

11 London

12 Salford

13 Manchester

14 Derby

15 Wakefield

16 Liverpool

17 Plymouth

18 Bradford

19 Stoke-on-Trent

20 Birmingham

21 Hull

22 Leicester

23 Coventry

24 Sunderland

25 Wolverhampton