An eco-city reduces its ecological footprint to fit within the boundaries of one planet. In an eco-city, people and organisations adapt to a changing climate and gladly act to build a sustainable future.
Future Melbourne 2008

The City of Melbourne is internationally recognised for its leadership in sustainability and is taking real action on climate change. In responding to growing ecological challenges, the City of Melbourne set the goal of being carbon neutral by 2020.

Importantly, the City of Melbourne has worked together with local residents, businesses and interest groups to develop a range of innovative plans, strategies and programs for a more sustainable Melbourne. A selection of these include our:

• Zero Net Emissions by 2020 Strategy
• 1200 Buildings program, which aims to encourage and support building owners, managers and facility managers to improve energy and water efficiency and reduce waste to landfill of commercial buildings in the municipality
• Urban Forest Strategy
• Urban Landscapes Climate Adaptation Program.

Specific action has been taken on a number of fronts such as planting 15,000 trees plus a further 3,000 trees planted in each future year, as well as helping to increase uptake of renewable energy, protect our biodiversity and improve stormwater harvesting.

City of Melbourne residents have also taken significant steps to reduce the municipality’s ecological footprint. In addition, while the City of Melbourne has led in its own right to reduce greenhouse gases, there has been encouraging growth in corporations located in the municipality seeking to make their buildings energy efficient and reduce their footprint.

The daily water consumption per resident and per worker has reduced considerably, by around 23.5 per cent for residents and 24.5 per cent for workers from 2006–07 to 2012–13.

Read more about this goal in the Future Melbourne 2008 Report: