Brisbane’s reputation as the cleanest, greenest and most sustainable city in Australia continues to win global recognition.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner today announced Brisbane had attained gold level under the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Cities Global Initiative.
The announcement was made at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Brisbane which is being attended by nearly 1200 delegates, including 118 mayors from around the world.
Cr Schrinner said the UN had recognised how Council’s practical approach towards sustainability was not just about cutting waste and emissions but cutting costs for Brisbane’s 1.2 million residents.
“What this recognition from the UN really means is that Brisbane just keeps getting better,” he said.
“It means the raft of measure our Council team continues to undertake to keep Brisbane clean and green, to preserve our unique lifestyle and ensure we grow sustainably is working.
“It means our practical approach is a far better way to improve sustainability compared to the pie-in the-sky target setting we see so often from other levels of government.
“For example, we’re introducing the new Brisbane Metro, a fully-electric high-capacity mass transit system that will save 50,000 tonnes of emissions over 20 years but also get people where they want to go more efficiently.
“We’re investing in green bridges with the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge to not only remove 80,000 cars a year from our roads but deliver a long-needed connection across the river from Brisbane’s CBD.
“We’re delivering sustainable new parks like Hanlon Park in Stones Corner which not only meant an ugly century-old concrete drain was removed but delivered a great destination for families and restored a more flood-resilient natural waterway.
“And we’re doing things for households like slashing the costs of green waste recycling bins to $1 a week, making larger yellow-top recycling bins free, providing rebates for composting equipment and expanding Brisbane’s food waste recycling scheme beyond the current 30 suburbs.
“These practical measures don’t just help households cut down on waste. They help them cut down on cost.”
Brisbane was the first Australian city to receive Silver Certification in the UN-Habitat’s Sustainable Development Goals Cities Global Initiative in 2022.
The city now joins La Paz, Bolivia as one of two places in the world to attain gold level and will be the first city to submit a new generation Voluntary Local Review (VLR) to mark the city’s progress against the UN’s 17 development goals.
For more information on Council achieving the UN SDG Cities Gold Level, please visit brisbane.qld.gov.au
