New research from Group 1 Automotive has revealed which cities in the UK have made the most improvements over the past few years to ‘going green’ to reach the government’s net zero goals by 2050.
To determine which cities in the UK have made the most improvements over the past few years to make their streets greener, Group 1 Automotive analysed data on air quality, ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) ownership, publicly available EV charging points, and greenhouse gas emissions.
As part of their analysis, Group 1 Automotive looked at the increases and decreases in each of these areas by city to allow them to see the overall percentage changes. They then translated these percentage change findings into a scoring system, to allow them to see which cities are the‘most improved’ in each green area.
Below, Group 1 Automotive reveals the top 10 UK cities who have made the most eco-friendly improvements over the past few years:
To narrow down the list of the greenest UK cities (cities making the overall most improvements to making their streets greener), Group 1 Automotive only considered cities with ‘Clean Air Zones’ – targeted areas in a location with an overall aim to improve air quality, and help to support economic growth.
Their analysis found that Glasgow is the city in the UK who is ‘most improved’ when it comes to making their streets ‘greener’.
Whilst air quality and greenhouse gas emissions in Glasgow have increased slightly over the years (+4%), efforts towards increasing electric vehicle ownership and facilities for these helped it climb to the top of the list.
Overall, Glasgow had a whopping 425% increase in the number of residents owning ULEVs, rising from 276 in the beginning of 2020 to 1,448 in the beginning of 2023.
The city also had a 218% increase in publicly available EV charging points for every 100,000 people, going from 3.5 per capita in 2020 to 11 in 2023.
Following Glasgow was another Scottish city, Aberdeen in second place, and Birmingham in third place.
Aberdeen achieved a huge 323% increase in ULEV ownership from 2020 to 2023, as well as improving the availability of publicly available EV charging points with a 200% increase.
Whereas Birmingham excelled overall in increasing the amount of publicly available EV charging points, with an increase of 990%.
Interestingly, of the top 10 most improved green cities, 4 out of Scotland’s 8 cities featured. The Scottish Net Zero Roadmap(2021-2022) outlines plans to achieve net zero emissions five yearsahead of the rest of the UK (by 2045).
From these findings, it’s clear to see that this plan is in action.
