KlimaStadtLinz2030: Linz and its path to climate neutrality by 2030 - Preparation for the EU - Mission “100 Climate-neutral Cities by 2030”

Status

Completed (September 2022)

Starting point, content and results

The city of Linz recognizes anthropogenic climate change as one of the greatest challenges of our time. To meet this challenge and to improve and preserve the quality of life in Linz, important steps have already been taken in the run-up to and during the course of Fit4UM. Central in this context are the policy statement on the "1. Linzer Klimastrategie" (1st Climate strategy for the City of Linz), the municipal council resolution on the development of a climate change adaptation strategy and on the „Fahrplan Klimawandelanpassungskonzept für Linz" ("Roadmap for a climate change adaptation strategy for the City of Linz"), the municipal council resolution on the "Leitlinie der Linzer Stadtregierung 2021-2027: Linz wird klimafreundliche Industriestadt" ("Guideline for the City of Linz government 2021-2027: Linz to become a climate-friendly industrial city") and the basic resolution on the "Entwicklung eines gesamtstädtischen Klimaneutralitätskonzeptes der Stadt Linz mit sektorspezifischen Maßnahmen" ("Development of a city-wide climate neutrality strategy for the city of Linz with sector-specific actions"). The project KlimaStadtLinz2030 is intended to strengthen and contribute to the path of Linz to climate neutrality.

Together with stakeholders a possible common vision of a climate-neutral city based on a survey of CO₂ reduction potentials in various sectors was devised. From this a concept for Linz to attain climate-neutrality by 2030 was developed and visualized as a roadmap. Furthermore, possible actions for the realization of climate-neutral quarters were examined for one specific inner-city quarter. The detailed analysis in the project showed, that in its own direct sphere of influence Linz (Municipality of Linz) produces approximately 24,000 tons of CO₂eq of greenhouse gas emissions per year. Using the ClimateOS software, scenarios were created that yielded reduction paths for the various sectors, including corresponding climate change mitigation measures. As a result the scenarios show, that even with complete electrification of the city's own vehicle fleet and significant changes in the heat supply, climate neutrality by 2030 cannot be achieved for the Municipality of Linz. However, a reduction of up to 80 percent is deemed as feasible. The quarter considered in the project indicated which measures could be realized and which still require greater efforts. The results obtained are an important foundation for further work on climate-neutral urban quarters in the City of Linz.

In summary, the present project was able to contribute to the further development of climate governance in the city of Linz and provided a strong impetus for the city's climate work. However, achieving climate neutrality by 2030 cannot be achieved in the direct area of influence, even with very ambitious assumptions in terms of emission reductions. Nonetheless, the project clearly shows that the implementation of climate protection actions is extremely urgent and that concrete steps must be taken quickly. The launch of the development of a city-wide climate neutrality concept for the city of Linz, including sector-specific mitigation measures, in the fall of 2022, represents a logical continuation of the efforts and achievements to date. The results from the present project provide important initial work for it. In the future, the results obtained by employing different methods constitute a solid foundation for the constant work on the climate-neutral industrial city of Linz.

Project management

Johannes Horak, Umweltmanagement of the municipality of Linz

Johannes Horak
Stadtklimatologe
Umweltmanagement
Planung, Technik und Umwelt
Hauptstraße 1-5
A-4041 Linz
Tel.: +43 (732) 7070 3974
E-Mail: Johannes.horak@mag.linz.at
Web: www.linz.at/stadtklima.php