Sydney’s green efforts win global recognition

The City of Sydney has won a silver award in the most sustainable government category of the renowned International Green Awards for its vision, innovation and advocacy in areas including energy, water, waste and transport.

“Cities are on the front line in the fight against climate change and we work hard to ensure Sydney is one of the world’s leading green cities,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“This award is recognition of the city’s work on sustainability and an endorsement of our efforts to address climate change. It’s wonderful to be ranked so highly by international experts.

“By continuing to work with our business partners and local communities, we are on track to meet our environmental goals. We will dramatically reduce carbon pollution, improve our water and energy efficiency, and support sustainable transport options like walking and cycling.”

Officially recognised as Australia’s first carbon-neutral government, the city was short-listed with the City of Philadelphia (US), Songpa-Gu Council (South Korea), the Water Replenishment District (California) and Dublin Fire Brigade (Ireland).

The city’s sustainability achievements include:

• Retrofitting city buildings to improve energy and water efficiency, reducing carbon pollution by 42%.
• Planning a network of trigeneration energy systems to provide low-carbon electricity, heating and cooling to city and privately owned buildings halving carbon pollution.
• Installing $4.3 million worth of solar panels on more than 30 major buildings, cutting annual carbon pollution by 2250 tonnes.
• Installing 6500 LED street and park lights to reduce electricity use by 40%.
• Reducing water consumption in the city’s buildings by 20%.
• Increasing recycling rates from 49% to 66% in one year through advanced waste treatment that removes recyclable materials from domestic waste and produces compost.

The judging panel for the International Green Awards included the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WWF-Australia and Greenpeace International.