Poland’s capital ranked 16th among 30 large European cities in the first ever European Green City Index, which ranked the cities in terms of environmental friendliness.

Source: European Green City Index

Praised for its high air quality and CO2 emissions 50 percent lower than the 30-city average, Lithuania’s capital ranked 13th. Riga was ranked just ahead of Warsaw, in 15th place.

The project was based on data from the Economist Intelligence Unit and the list was published by Siemens in December, with the Polish version and Warsaw-specific information published last week. The criteria taken under consideration included CO2 emissions, energy, buildings, transport, water-supply management, waste management, air quality and environmental policy management.

The report acknowledged the long period of negligence in many facets of Warsaw’s development under communism.

“This is not characteristic only for Poland, but all CEE countries,” said Hubert Górski of Siemens.

Areas that pushed Warsaw’s position lower included a high amount of water consumption, insufficient promotion of public transportation, as well as poor waste management.

The city’s relatively low level of wealth was also a factor. “The affluence of societies and their engagement in ecological activities also affected the results,” said Mr Górski.

Jarosław Kochaniak, deputy mayor of Warsaw, was satisfied with the city’s performance and especially with the fifth place it earned for environmental governance.

“If this ranking is continued, it is likely the position of Warsaw will increase thanks to current and planned investments,” he said.