The Sustainable Cities Index, which tracks progress on sustainability in Britain’s 20 largest cities on environmental performance, quality of life and future-proofing and how they tackle issues like climate change, recycling and biodiversity, put Bristol ahead of 2007’s winner Brighton and Hove. Plymouth got the third place for the best environmental performance and Newcastle jumped from eighth to fourth spot, the only northern city in the top five.

Bristol grabbed top overall spot for its impressive increase in recycling and composting rates, on which it moved up the rankings by 10 places, and its consistently high scores on water quality, waste collection and green spaces.

However, the best-performing cities in the UK cannot match international leaders in sustainability like Stockholm, Portland in the United States and Curitiba in Brazil, the report said.

Cities in India, which only launched its first-ever national action plan on climate change this autumn, are way behind in the sustainability list.

The index is based on 13 indicators in three areas: the environment, quality of life, and future-proofing. Examples of indicators include air quality and ecological footprint (environment); education and unemployment (quality of life); and local authority commitments to climate change (future-proofing). The report revealed a clear North-South divide still exists in Britain. Southern cities like London perform better in the quality of life indicators and feature in the top 10, while the industrial heritage of the Midlands and North is reflected in lower life expectancy.

"Leaders with passion, who put sustainability at the heart of their vision, can create cities which offer their people a high quality of life and have the resilience to cope with the climate change," Peter Madden, chief executive of the forum, said.