Sydney has achieved a top 10 ranking in the 2026 Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index among the participating 2026 GDS-Index destinations.

The GDS Index measures the sustainability of destinations in four different categories based on more than 70 indicators. More than 80 cities around the world committed to sustainability are included in the comparison.

Now in its 11th year, GDS-Index is an annually updated performance improvement program from GDS-Movement that helps destinations benchmark sustainability and regenerative progress, identify gaps and turn evidence into action.

It assesses performance across four interconnected areas: Environmental, Social, Supplier and Destination Management.

Sydney was in seventh place among the participating 2026 GDS-Index destinations with a score of 87.06 per cent and was the only Australian city in the top 10. It was also number one in the Asia Pacific and number one in Metropolis category among the participating 2026 GDS-Index destinations.

Sydney ranked sixth as most improved city in the environmental category (up 8.8 per cent year-on-year) and ranked fourth as most improved city in the supplier category (up 20.5 per cent year-on-year).

Sydney was one of the first cities globally and the first in Australia to join the Global Destination Sustainability Index.

City of Sydney, BESydney and Destination NSW all contributed information to the submission for Sydney, led by City of Sydney as part of the Sustainable Destination Partnership.

GDS-Movement CEO and Chief Changemaker Guy Bigwood said: “This year we are celebrating both excellence and momentum.

“The top-performing destinations continue to raise the bar, while destinations across the wider community are accelerating their progress.

“The narrowing gap shows how ideas, practices, and ambition are spreading. Eleven years of measurement demonstrate the power of benchmarking, peer learning, and performance management to turn evidence into action and help destinations scale change.”

Helsinki, Finland, recorded the highest overall 2026 score at 92.94 per cent, followed by Gothenburg, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Key findings from the 2026 GDS-Index include:

  • Sustainability practices are expanding across tourism and events supply chains: Third-party certification now covers 58.63 per cent of assessed hotel room inventory, up from 34.26 per cent in 2023.
  • Certified convention venues increased from 47.21 per cent to 72.06 per cent, while certified event agencies more than doubled from 16.86 per cent to 39.05 per cent.
  • Climate resilience is becoming more embedded in destination management: Nine in 10 responding destinations have a formal written crisis management plan covering tourism and events. While the vast majority have a 2030 emissions target, 38.3 per cent can demonstrate emissions reductions against that target.
  • Destinations are driving progress across all four categories (Environmental, Supplier, Social, and Destination Management) and Destination Management scores increased by 6.2 percentage points, while Supplier performance increased by 5.1 points, among destinations assessed in 2025 and 2026.

Learn more here.