Melbourne Named in Top 10 Sustainable Cities

MELBOURNE has been officially named in the top 10 of sustainable cities worldwide.

The only Australian city to have been recognised, Melbourne was named alongside New York and London as a 2020 Global Sustainability Centre by the Ethisphere Institute.

The Ethisphere Institute, a think-tank dedicated to the research and promotion of profitable best practices in governance, business ethics, compliance and corporate social responsibility released the 2020 Global Sustainability Centers, which comprises of ten large cities (600,000+ citizens) and ten mid-sized cities (60,000-600,000 citizens) lauded for long-term city planning and building strong and principled foundations.

Cities from nearly every continent are named on the list, including likely North American metropolises and some unexpected global cities from developing regions.

For example under the City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne plan, greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 35 per cent per resident and 59 per cent per worker per capita by 2020.

Overall the plan aims for a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 2020, and a 40 percent reduction in overall water use for the same time period.

The Institute says Melbourne prides itself as having one of the largest populations of international students in the world. the city has eight universities within its Central Business District and nearly 55 percent of its students hail from abroad. That’s not unusual for the city, as reportedly 44 percent of the people living within Melbourne were born outside of Australia.

New York is recognized for studying how entire countries operate when creating its sustainable development program, while Reykjavik is the world’s leader in renewable energy, and Hyderabad is addressing resource degradation and poverty, while encouraging local innovation.

Alex Brigham, executive director of The Ethisphere Institute says in a world of increasing population pressures and depleting natural resources, some cities are proactively adjusting their practices today as well as implementing sustainable long-term practices.

Cities were considered for their environmental and sustainability practices; health and recreation; education, arts and culture; economic and business environment; regulatory framework; law enforcement and transparency; media and speech; transportation and housing; and innovation and investment.

The Ethisphere Institute says the million-dollar question is how these cities’ future development plans are going to be financed.

It says one of the best routes forward—and all of the 2020 Global Sustainability Centers seem to understand this—is for cities to cooperate with the businesses operating within their borders. This benefits both parties; businesses drive their revenue through partnerships, and cities tap local resources to improve their quality of life. In fact, this concept is almost necessary to give any legitimacy to a city’s sustainability program.

To see which cities made the list, and to learn what makes these cities global sustainability role models, visit http://ethisphere.com/2020-global-sustainability-centers/.