All three Australian cities are inside the global top 40 destinations on the index, which ranks 100 cities that have signed up to the Global Destination Sustainability Movement. Each member of the movement has committed to continuous improvement in a variety of sustainability pillars, from environmental to social and economic.
Sydney comes in highest in Australia, ranked 10th globally. In 2023, Sydney was ranked 29th. The city’s rise in the rankings is a combination of it improving its score across the various measures of sustainability in combination with four other cities’ scores dropping significantly in 2024. Stockholm in particular has slipped from 10th to 30th.
Melbourne came in at 24 globally, rising from 27 in 2023, while Brisbane ranked 33rd, up from 37 last year.
Brisbane has improved its rating substantially since joining the index in 2019 and has recently begun its journey to be certified as a destination by EarthCheck. The city currently has Bronze benchmark status.
Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA) which also contains the city’s convention bureau, is managing these two sustainability yardsticks for the city.
“Brisbane’s popularity as a place to live, work and visit has soared in recent years, with visitor spending hitting a record-breaking $10.7 billion, and our economy set to grow 68 per cent to $275 billion by 2041,” said BEDA CEO, Anthony Ryan.
“At this time of unprecedented growth, BEDA will continue to spearhead collaboration across the city, encourage local businesses to adopt sustainable practices and create a vibrant city for residents and visitors by attracting conferences, sporting events and investment to Brisbane.
“We’re incredibly proud of this achievement but we’re just getting started.”
Back on the GDS-Index, Scandinavian cities make up all of the top five cities in the 2024 index, with Helsinki in Finland, Gothenburg in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark taking the top three spots in that order.
Singapore is the leading APAC city, while Sydney and Melbourne both feature in the top five metropolises and mega-cities on the index.
Sydney features in the top ten most improved cities for the environmental and supplier categories, while Melbourne and Brisbane are also amongst the most improved for the supplier category of measurement.
