The university has once again plunged in the latest environmental rankings – falling more than 40 places on 2012.
The annual survey by Greenmetric placed the University 152nd for 2013 – considerably lower than the 108th place ranked in 2012 and more than 70 places lower than 2011, where the University ranked 78th.
The study combines institution efforts at setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste water, transportation and education to give an overall score on university sustainability and green friendly management.
It gave York a total of 4,962 – less than institutions across Europe, Asia and America.
Registrar David Duncan said: “It is difficult to understand exactly how these rankings are compiled and why York is rated so low. We have taken important steps to improve energy efficiency, reduce traffic to and from the campus and raise awareness of environmental sustainability.
“At the same time, we recognise that much remains to be done.”