+44 1865 259200
Aether was appointed to develop a Sustainability Index for Oxford, comparing the city’s performance with other urban areas on a range of factors such as: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency, Transport, Water, Waste, Air Quality, Green Space, Biodiversity, Flood Risk Mitigation and Land Quality. The analysis featured quantitative as well as qualitative analysis to benchmark and evaluate Oxford’s performance and identify cases of best practice in other cities. This analysis, originally undertaken in 2016, was updated in 2019 to reflect the latest available data.
The Challenge
The key driver for this project was to establish a transparent, robust framework by which Oxford (and other cities in the future) could assess itself against key environmental criteria. The outputs will inform the City Council on areas of relatively good and poor performance, so that it can prioritise future resources and projects and work towards a cleaner, greener Oxford. The Sustainability Index utilises national, regional and local datasets to compile best and worst performance across a series of environmental indicators, which when combined provide qualitative and quantitative context as to how Oxford was performing in each category.
The Solution
Using our knowledge of national and regional datasets, as well as expertise in compiling and analysing complex datasets, we designed a comprehensive framework making use of existing and reliable information. For each quantitative aspect we identified a scale from best to worst performing urban areas and then mapped Oxford City on that scale. For qualitative aspects, we utilised a recognised policy analysis protocol which allowed us to evaluate non-quantitative environmental indicators. By weighting each of the indicators then combining them, overall scores across 10 environmental categories were developed. The results were summarised in a brief report, along with supplementary information on Oxford’s performance and best practice case studies from other cities across the UK.
The published 2016 report is available to download here. The Sustainability Index for Oxford (2016 results) is displayed below.
Kathryn Hampshire
Principal Consultant
Related case studies
Merton Council Climate Emergency Support
Category: Cities and Local Authorities, Emission Inventories, Policies and Measures
Aether and SE2 supported Merton Council in developing their action plan to meet targets to decarbonise the Council by 2030 and the borough of Merton by 2050
Read case studyOxford Sustainability Index
Category: Cities and Local Authorities, Policies and Measures
Aether was appointed to develop a Sustainability Index for Oxford, comparing the city’s performance with others.
Read case studyCity of London Air Quality Data Visualisation
Category: Cities and Local Authorities
Aether developed an online, interactive data visualisation for the City of London that could be used by policy makers and the general public to explore data and information on air quality. Topics covered include air pollutant emissions, bus fleet emission control technologies and the health impacts of air pollution.
Read case studyNews
Latest news
Posted on: 6 October 2025
Aether Experts Contribute to IPCC Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers
In the first week of October Richard Claxton and Sergii Shmarin were in Istanbul, contributing as lead authors to the upcoming IPCC Methodology Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCFs). SLCFs - such as black carbon, and other ozone precursors play a critical role in climate change and air quality. The new methodology report will provide essential guidance for countries to improve their emissions inventories and strengthen climate action.
Read full storyPosted on: 1 September 2025
Six new project wins for the land development services team
Aether has recently expanded its Land Development services and secured six new commissions with one of the UK’s top 14 house builders. These projects span from comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments for large-scale residential developments to focused sustainability, energy, and air quality reports for smaller schemes.
Read full storyPosted on: 1 August 2025
Aether expands land development services
Aether has strengthened its Land Development services with the appointment of Michael Dray as Principal Sustainability Advisor. Michael brings over a decade of experience in sustainability across the built environment, with specialist expertise in low-carbon infrastructure, life-cycle carbon assessment, and Passivhaus consultancy.
Read full storyPosted on: 1 June 2025
2025 Historical NECD, Projections NECD, ESR and LULUCF reviews
The Aether team is supporting reviews of air pollutant and greenhouse gas inventories for several European countries, including under the NECD, ESR, and LULUCF regulations. These reviews ensure accurate emissions data to meet EU targets for 2030. The team is also helping build capacity in countries needing extra support, contributing to cleaner air and better climate policy implementation across Europe.
Read full storyFilter news by category
Aether Blog Air Pollution Air Quality Assessments Barriers to Net Zero Capacity Building Carbon Footprint Climate Equality Climate Finance Data Visualisation Emissions Reporting GHG Infrastructure Inventories Local Government Mitigation MRV National Government Net Zero Policy Recruitment Society Stakeholder Engagement Waste Sector Wider Impacts
Testimonial
