With G20 talks last week, Climate Change has jumped back in the spotlight after a fairly long absence. However, who are actually practicing what they preach? Washington DC-based environmental consultancy, DualCitizenLLC, has released the fourth edition of its Global Green Economy Index. This index assessed the environmental and sustainability accomplishments of 60 countries and 70 cities around the world. Here is the list.
Denmark’s capital is the world greenest city. Copenhagen has carbon neutrality goals to be achieved by 2025 as well as urban planning which encourages cyclists and pedestrians. It is also a leader in the wind power sector.
Amsterdam has an incredible bike infrastructure which renders cars unnecessary.
Coordinated environmental planning has been running for three decades in Stockholm, enabling an abundance of green space. They are also planning to be fossil fuel-free by the middle of the 21st century.
Vancouver is Canada’s cleanest city despite a huge population. This year they launched their Greenest City 2020 initiative which aims to transform the city to take over the number one spot.
London is taking on initiatives to change its grey streets into green ones with the increase of green space and cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
The German capital is reducing its carbon footprint with the establishment of an Environmental Zone in the cities centre. This means that vehicles with emissions over a threshold will not be able to enter.
The Big Apple is the US’s greenest large-scale metropolis. This is because of its metro systems providing transport to large numbers and therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Since becoming a first world economy, Singapore has launched the Singapore Green Plan to address the pollution of land, water and air. It is currently aiming to produce zero waste for landfills by mid-21st century.
The Finnish capital has been implementing energy efficiency and sustainability plans since the 1950’s.
Norway’s capital is the fourth Scandinavian city of this list. It has made the list due to its Strategy for Sustainable Development, which aims to preserve the cities natural surroundings and include a Green Belt Boundary which is off limits for urban development.