A total of 7 Irish cities/regions have made the prestigious 2024 international GDS Index, which measures how climate friendly and sustainable destinations really are; which, along with Denmark, is the highest amount of entries on the list for any country.
The annual list is compiled by international sustainability agency the Global Destination Sustainability Movement. It measures cities and regions on a raft of criteria including sustainability promotion, environmental performance and social progress performance.
What’s more, each Irish region has shown progress since the 2023 list was compiled.
The top 40 list of sustainable destinations is predictably heavily dominated by Scandinavian and Nordic regions. The top 5 comprises Helsinki, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Bergen, and Aarhus, while Oslo ranks 8th.
However, Belfast has broken into the top 10 this year, up two places from last year’s list.
Kerry ranks 19th in the latest list – an unchanged position from last year. Hwwever, Cork has risen from 26th to 21st in the annual rankings. Galway jumped from 39th last year to 25th this year. Similarly, Clare saw a significant jump in the standings – going from 38th in 2023 to 28th this year.
Furthermore, Dublin and Limerick – ranked 29th and 38th, respectively – were new entrants to the prestigious Top 40 list.
