Across the world, 88 cities have made the CDP 2020 A List for achieving the highest standards of environmental action reporting, including five cities in Australia and New Zealand:

1. Adelaide

2. Melbourne

3. Sydney

4. Australian Capital Territory

5. Auckland

The list is based on data disclosed by 591 cities through the CDP-ICLEI Unified Reporting platform in 2020. Cities are scored ‘A’ to ‘D’ based on the completeness and quality of their data and action taken. To score an A, a city must disclose data publicly, have a city-wide emissions inventory (not just for its operations, but for the city as a whole), have an emissions reduction target, and a published climate action plan. The highest grade also requires a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and climate adaptation plan. Each of these five leading councils are signatories to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.