SCOTLAND'S capital has been praised for setting a target of achieving its deadline of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2020, while other UK cities have not done so.

Edinburgh ultimately wants to achieve a zero carbon economy by 2050.

But research by Newcastle University found many major population centres are failing to implement plans to deal with climate change, such as reducing emissions and planning for extreme weather.

A study of 30 cities found that all of the authorities acknowledged that climate change was a threat and all but two had a strategy in place to reduce emissions but the lack of a target, figure or timescale, rendered them meaningless, according to the report. It claims that many of the cities lack long-term investment in the strategies.

Dr Oliver Heidrich, who led the research, said: "Of the 30 cities we assessed, all of them acknowledged that climate change was a threat and all except two had a strategy or policy in place to reduce emissions and also adapt to cope better with future weather patterns, in particular flooding.

"But a plan is only any good if you implement it and then assess it to see how effective it has been. This requires a long-term investment in the strategies.

"We found that in many cities this wasn't happening. In some cases, plans were in place but nothing had been done about them."

The study gave London and Leicester the highest scores and Wrexham and Derry the lowest.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: "It's great to see Edinburgh highlighted as one of those cities that has at least set a deadline to reduce climate emissions.

"However, it's vital that along with any targets are clear city-wide policies on transport, waste and energy that will deliver the agreed cuts in pollution."