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Sustainable cities

Where Australia’s urban centres rank on emissions, energy, and ecosystems

With climate concerns growing and the transition to clean energy picking up speed, our team at iSelect set out to discover which Australian cities and regions are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to sustainability. 

Looking at 50 of the biggest cities and regions in Australia, we analysed five key categories: carbon emissions, renewable energy usage, clean energy investment, solar panel uptake, and tree canopy coverage, to see which urban areas are leading the charge (and which are falling behind) in the race toward a greener future. 

Whether you’re planning a move, looking to live more sustainably, or just curious to see where your city sits, jump in to read about our rankings of Australia’s most (and least) sustainable cities. 

The most sustainable cities in Australia

Canberra (paired with the nearby Queanbeyan area) took the crown as Australia’s most sustainable city with a score of 97.94. It led the pack thanks to its low carbon emissions per capita (the lowest in the country), and the ACT’s 100% renewable energy generation. 

While it’s not quite big enough to be called a city, South Australia’s Victor Harbor and Goolwa region was the runner-up. It came through with impressively low emissions (7.30 tCO₂e per capita), strong solar energy density, and high solar capacity. Adelaide rounded out the top three, thanks to its low emissions and renewable energy efforts. 

Interestingly, no Victorian, Western Australian, or Northern Territory cities cracked the top 25. Their lower levels of renewable generation, higher emissions, and smaller investments in clean energy per capita all played a part in holding them back. 

The least sustainable cities in Australia

At the bottom end of the scale, Darwin ranked as Australia’s least sustainable city with a score of 40.56. While its solar panel uptake is decent (35.1% of homes), Darwin’s been let down by its high carbon emissions (27.65 tCO₂e), and one of the lowest shares of renewable energy generation in the country at only 6.7%.
 
Gladstone in Queensland had Australia’s highest emissions at an enormous 108.34 tCO₂e per capita. This isn’t a huge surprise, given its name as an industrial centre. The city had strong solar investments, but they weren’t enough to outweigh the huge amount of emissions created. 

Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia took number three (41.37 tCO₂e per capita), with its low solar capacity and limited green canopy coverage adding to the challenge. 

The cities with the fewest carbon emissions

Canberra led the charge with the low carbon emissions, generating just 1.69 tCO₂e per person. Adelaide followed close behind with 6.87 tCO₂e, thanks to South Australia’s big switch to renewables. 

Tasmania was also a standout. With its near-total reliance on hydroelectric power, Hobart, Devonport, and Launceston all lined up within the top six. Coastal areas in New South Wales and Queensland also made the top 10, with Ballina, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, and the Sunshine Coast all keeping their emissions under 9 tCO₂e per capita. 

The best cities for solar power

When it comes to homes with solar panels, Queensland dominated. Six of the top 10 cities with the highest solar density scores are all in the Sunshine State. The prize goes to the fittingly named Sunshine Coast, where over 62.3% of homes have solar panels installed.  

Not far behind was Hervey Bay, at 60.5%, followed by Victor Harbor–Goolwa in South Australia, with solar helping to power about 60% of homes.  

The states investing the most in renewable energy

The dream-team combo of New South Wales and the ACT topped the charts for clean energy investment, with $449.68 spent per capita on completed renewable energy projects. South Australia ($322.74) and Queensland ($305.08) followed closely behind, with strong efforts towards emissions and solar investments. 

At the other end of the spectrum is the Northern Territory, investing only $20.78, the lowest in the country. And while Tasmania is known for its high renewable energy generation, it spent relatively little on new renewable sources at $97.13 per person. 

The states with the most clean energy development potential

South Australia topped the chart when it comes to the potential for clean energy development, with 47.1 accredited installers and designers for every 100,000 people. This shows what a well-established solar market and renewable-eager population can do when brought together. Queensland and the ACT weren’t far behind, with 45.1 and 42.6 installers and designers per 100,000. This lines up with their high solar uptake numbers and renewable investment levels. 

Despite its lower renewable investment, the Northern Territory surprisingly came in fourth, with 35.3 clean energy professionals per 100,000 residents. Meanwhile, Tasmania (27.5) and Western Australia (26.3) rounded out the bottom of the list. This suggests they have some room for growth in the clean energy workforce, even though they already create a significant amount of renewable power. 

The states with the highest renewable energy generation

When it comes to producing renewable energy, the ACT was hard to beat, creating an impressive 100% of its electricity from renewables. Close behind was Tasmania at 98.2%, thanks to its long use of hydropower. South Australia also performed well, with 74.4% of its energy powered by the sun and wind, thanks to years of infrastructure investment. 

Dragging at the other end of the scale, the Northern Territory ranked last, with 6.7% of its energy coming from renewables. Western Australia sat a smidge higher at 17.6%.  

These numbers really highlight the difference between who’s nailing the switch to renewables and who’s struggling with infrastructure or remote area challenges. 

Julia Paszka - General Manager – Utilities & Credit Cards

Our findings highlight some impressive progress regarding sustainability in certain parts of Australia. Capital cities such as Canberra, Adelaide, and Hobart performed exceptionally well, driven by low carbon emissions and strong renewable energy generation. However, not all regions are keeping pace. Darwin was named the least sustainable city in our index, primarily due to low state-level investment in renewables and limited clean energy generation.

Fortunately, choosing a more sustainable energy plan is within reach for many Australians. At iSelect, we help customers compare a range of energy plans to find one that suits their needs — potentially lowering their bills, reducing their carbon footprint, or both. With so many retailers now offering options that include renewable energy sources, it’s easier than ever to make a more climate-conscious choice without sacrificing affordability.

Julia Paszka

General Manager – Utilities & Credit Cards at iSelect

About the data 

To find Australia’s most sustainable cities, iSelect looked at the 50 most populated cities, using five key factors that contribute to a city’s level of sustainability:

  1. Carbon emissions (40%) – Calculates total carbon emissions (in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e)). We looked at categories like agriculture, fugitive emissions, industrial processes and product use (IPPU), waste, electricity, gas, land use, and transport, adjusted to the city’s population size.
  2. Solar installation density and solar energy capacity (7.5%) – Shows the potential and density of solar energy from photovoltaic (PV) system installations in residential homes.
  3. Renewable energy investment and development (15%) – Measures state-level investments and the number of clean energy accredited installers and designers relative to population size.
  4. Renewable energy generation (30%) – Measures what percentage of the city/state’s energy is generated from renewable sources.
  5. Tree canopy (7.5%) – Assesses sustainable urban development by measuring how much of the land is shaded by tree cover (trees over 2m tall).

Each factor has been standardised, scaled, and weighted to create an index score. Weighting has been based on each metric’s impact on sustainability. For example, carbon emissions had the heaviest weight due to being a direct indicator of sustainability.

We use the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ geographic boundaries for Significant Urban Areas (SUA) to represent the 50 largest cities in this research.

When comparing carbon emissions, solar energy, and tree canopy, data at the Local Government Area (LGA) level was used. These LGA areas were mapped with SUAs to calculate carbon emissions per capita, solar installation density, solar capacity per dwelling, and tree canopy percentage. Some LGAs cross over into multiple SUAs, such as Lake Macquarie, which crosses over into both ‘Morisset – Cooranbong’ and ‘Newcastle – Maitland’ SUAs.

The solar energy data used includes accredited solar photovoltaic (PV) systems installed since April 2001. As such, it includes most, but not all, of the rooftop solar PV systems in Australia. However, it does not account for systems that have been decommissioned.

Data for clean energy investment, development, and use is only available at the state level and therefore allocated accordingly. For state-level analysis, where an SUA crosses over multiple states, its primary state was used to allocate values. For example, ‘Canberra – Queanbeyan’ uses ACT data, except where only combined ACT and NSW data was available.

Metrics for carbon emissions, renewable energy investment, and development were scaled with ABS regional population data directly relevant to their reporting period.

Data sources

iSelect does not compare all energy providers or plans in the market. The availability of plans may change from time to time, depending on who iSelect’s providers are and what plans they make available to iSelect. Not all plans made available from iSelect providers may be compared by iSelect either due to commercial arrangements, area or availability, so not all plans or providers compared by iSelect will be available to all customers. Some plans and special offers are available only from iSelect’s contact centre or website. Energy plans are available only for properties located in eligible areas of Victoria, New South Wales, South East Queensland, South Australia and ACT. Click here to view iSelect’s range of providers.