Once again, the United States proves that we are not doing nearly enough to save the planet, as made clear by a new list of the top 20 most sustainable cities on the planet.
When it comes to Bloomberg’s list of the 20 most sustainable cities in the world, the United States doesn’t even come close.
While India is busy planting 50 million trees in one day, the U.S. continues to lag behind when it comes to environmental issues. Just like many things, we may fancy ourselves as the best and brightest, but that is almost always not the case.
To make you feel a bit better, not a single Canadian city topped the list either, but Europe’s leading ranks show that we have much to learn from our Eastern neighbors.
According to Bloomberg, the most sustainable city in the world is Zurich, Switzerland. No surprise there as Switzerland leads the world in most environmental and social issues. Also featured in the list is Singapore, Vienna, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt, Seoul, Hamburg, Prague, Munich, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Geneva, Copenhagen, Paris, Hong Kong, Berlin, Rotterdam, Canberra, and Madrid.
How did they arrive at this list? The list looked at three main factors to determine sustainability: How are business conditions and economic health? How does the nation treat the environment? How high is the average citizens’ quality of life?
This list shows us once again that the United States is no longer considered the world leader in much of anything. We need to take a long, hard look at our contributions to the planet and work to reclaim our once highly respected reputation.
