Dublin near bottom of European city green index

DUBLIN LANGUISHES in the bottom tier of 30 European cities for environmental performance, with an overall ranking of 21 – and comes last in the transport category, according to a “green cities” survey commissioned by Siemens.

Scandinavian cities dominate the top tier of the league table, with Copenhagen in first place, marginally ahead of Stockholm, and followed closely by Oslo.

The rest of the “top 10” are Vienna, Amsterdam, Zurich, Helsinki, Berlin, Brussels and Paris.

There was a strong correlation between wealth and a high overall ranking on the index.

Nine of the top 10 cities have a GDP per capita of more than €31,000. However, some punch above their weight: relatively poor Vilnius came first for air quality.

Although Dublin rated fourth overall on air quality, its ranking was dragged down by the city’s poor transport provision, high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from traffic and energy-inefficient buildings, and inadequate “environmental governance”.

The Siemens European Green City Index report, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, provides individual city profiles explaining the challenges facing them and their strengths and weaknesses as well as emerging best practice and innovative ideas.

In Dublin’s case, it found that the city produces 9.72 tonnes of CO2 emission per capita – almost double the 30-city average of 5.2 tonnes.

Dubliners consume a staggering 156 gigajoules of energy a year compared with the average of about 81 gigajoules.

They also use about 128 cubic metres of water a year, substantially above the average of 105 cubic metres, while the energy consumption of Dublin’s residential buildings is 1,281 megajoules per square metre, far higher than the average of 909 megajoules.

On transport, the report notes that less than one in five Dubliners take public transport to work, about half the average of 42 per cent, whereas almost 61 per cent use private cars. In Copenhagen, by contrast, a third of all commuters cycle to work.

Dublin ranked 13th on waste management, helped by a strong score for recycling; 28 per cent of the city’s waste is recycled, compared to the average of 18 per cent.

However, it generates 656 kilos of waste per capita annually, well above the average of 511 kilos.

Werner Kruckow, chief executive of Siemens Ireland Ltd, said it was “increasingly clear that the battle for environmental sustainability will be won or lost in our cities”. It is estimated that cities account for up to 70 per cent of CO2 emissions worldwide.

Although the results for Dublin were “stark”, he said technologies available today “can help to dramatically improve our environmental performance and ultimately help us to reach our emissions targets, save the exchequer money and help create significant jobs.”

Dr Kruckow said the breadth and depth of initiatives under way or planned for Dublin were “very promising”. Some of these were already bearing fruit in terms of environmental improvements and would “no doubt increase Dublin’s ranking in subsequent analyses”.

Siemens is one of the world’s leading engineering companies and employs more than 1,000 people in Ireland. The company describes itself as a significant contributor to developing technologies to deal with energy and environment solutions for urban areas.