About

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.28 million (2006 estimate). It is the state capital of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British colony in Australia. It was established in 1788 at Sydney Cove by Arthur Phillip, leader of the First Fleet from Britain. A resident of the city is referred to as a Sydneysider.

Sydney is situated on Australia's south-east coast. The city is built around Port Jackson, which includes Sydney Harbour, leading to the city's nickname, "the Harbour City". It is noted for the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, and its beaches. The metropolitan area is surrounded by national parks, and contains many bays, rivers and inlets. It is listed as a beta world city by the Loughborough University group's 1999 inventory and ranked 16th among global cities by Foreign Policy's 2008 Global Cities Index.The city has hosted international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The main airport serving Sydney is Sydney Airport.

Sydney is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, which reflects its role as a major destination for immigrants to Australia.

[ Back to Top ]

Strategy

The City of Sydney adopted its Environmental Management Plan on 25 June 2007 which establishes the environmental vision, targets and actions for Council and the local
government area for:

• energy and emissions
• water
• waste
• plants and animals

There are 53 actions designed to reduce environmental impacts associated with Council and our community through demonstration, advocacy and partnership.

The City's environmental targets are listed below. Some targets have been amended since the EMP was produced (see notes).

• 100 per cent offset of greenhouse gas emissions from Council operations and services
  by 2008. This includes a minimum 20 per cent reduction of Council emissions by 2012
  based on 2006 levels through energy savings measures (see
  Note 1).
• 70 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our local government area
  by 2050 based on 1990 levels
• 70 per cent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from our local government area
  by 2030 based on 2006 levels (see
  Note 2).
• 25 per cent of electricity used in our local government area to come from renewable
  energy by 2020.
• 20 per cent of total trips in the local government area between 2 and 20 kilometres
  to be made by bicycle by 2016.
• Zero increase in mains water used by Council and across the local government area
  by 2015 based on 2006 levels. This includes 25 per cent of water used by Council
  and across the local government area to be recycled by 2015.
• 66 per cent resource recovery of residential waste from our local government area by 2014.
• 66 per cent resource recovery of waste generated by Council and its contractors by 2014.
• 63 per cent resource recovery of commercial and industrial waste from our local government area by 2014.
• 76 per cent resource recovery of construction and demolition waste from our local government area and Council projects by 2014.
• 24 square metres of public open space per resident.

Notes

 1: Target adopted by Council 18 February 2008 with the NSW Local Government Emissions Trading Scheme (LGETS).

2: Target adopted by Council 30 June 2008 with the Sustainable Sydney 2030 Vision.

[ Back to Top ]

Photo Gallery