
In English: Gothenburg – one of EU:s 100 climate neutral and smart cities 2030
Gothenburg is one of the 100 climate-neutral and smart cities that will be pioneers and lead the way for the transition in Europe. In October 2024, the City of Gothenburg was awarded the EU’s Mission Label for its efforts to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral and sustainable city 2030.
Gothenburg has taken a significant step forward in its quest to become a sustainable and innovative city by being selected as one of Europe’s 100 climate-neutral and smart cities. This initiative, which is part of the EU’s effort to create climate-neutral cities by 2030, means that Gothenburg is now at the forefront of developing and implementing solutions to reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of life for its residents.
The City of Gothenburg is committed to continuing its work towards ambitious climate goals and to being a role model for other cities around the world.
Share experiences and invest together
Participation in the initiative for climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 opens up entirely new opportunities to share experiences, learn from other cities, and initiate larger climate efforts together. The City of Gothenburg aims to increase collaboration with residents, businesses, and academia so that we can accelerate the climate transition together.
Part of the initiative involves signing a Climate City Contract (CCC) with the European Commission. The EU-level climate contract to be climate-neutral by 2030 now becomes the next step after the City of Gothenburg, along with 22 other Swedish cities, already signed contracts at the Swedish level at the end of 2020.
Seven strategic priorities
Systemic interventions based on system understanding
The strategic priorities to reach climate-neutrality in Gothenburg need to be based on a solid understanding of the emission impact domains and the different systems to address, for the City and its involved stakeholders, the most efficient measures to be prioritised.
Many different types of actions are necessary to achieve the climate goal, and several different levers needs to be used. Most of all, to be successful the City of Gothenburg needs to work in close collaboration with all necessary stakeholders within business, academia, public organisations, civil society and citizens to expand the portfolio and strengthen the alignment.
The City has developed portfolios of action around seven strategic priorities. Each portfolio addresses various levers: technical, financial, organisational, governance, policy, culture, behavioural and social.
The seven strategic priorities are:
1. The intertwined energy and industrial system portfolio
This portfolio includes actions to reduce emissions from the privately owned refineries by switching to renewable energy or implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS), replacement of the natural gas used as fuel at the combined heat and power plant owned by Göteborg Energi (the municipal energy utility), and broad energy efficiency measures and energy advice to citizens and SME:s. The technical shifts needed will be supported by multi-lever measures, for example behavioural change.
2. The Port as a lever for reduced heavy transport emissions
The City, in cooperation with many actors, works for improved conditions and infrastructure for fossil-free freight transport by sea, port and on land. This is achieved through a portfolio of linked activities regarding bottleneck issues of fossil-free logistics to enable shifts from road-bound to rail-bound freight transports, infrastructure for hydrogen, onshore power supply for tankers and fast lanes for electric trucks, to name a few examples.
3. Sustainable and efficient mobility
The City uses a wide toolbox to induce a shift towards a more sustainable and efficient mobility system. This implies efforts to expand and improve infrastructure for walking, cycling, trams, electrified busses and trains micromobility. Additionally, mobility management, city planning, parking regulations, new business models, nudging and infrastructure for electric vehicles are elements of the portfolio. The battery factory of Northvolt and Volvo Cars will act as a local landmark for this shift. The multi-stakeholder collaboration initiatives (Green City Zone, ElectriCity, Public transportation of the Future as well as mobilising for the international conference on electric vehicles) are important enablers.
4. Improvements in the treatment of waste materials
Reductions of the amount of plastic in the waste treated by the incineration plant is needed, as well as reductions of incinerated food waste. Instead of being sources of emissions these resources can be used for recycling (plastic) and for biogas and fertilizer (food waste) and thus replace use of fossil based raw materials. Apart from enhancing infrastructural capacity, different strategies and combination of instruments are applied, including pricing, investigations on CCS, developed work procedures and behavioural shifts.
5. Climate-neutral construction
The City uses public construction projects as an engine in the transformation to a climate-neutral construction sector in Gothenburg. This involves working with requirements in public procurements of buildings and construction as well as using living labs for long term co-creation and innovation processes, together with stakeholders of the construction sector, such as The Platform for Climate-neutral Construction and The Handshake. Changing norms to optimise the use of existing building stocks is also part of this portfolio.
6. Capacity for circular economy
The City of Gothenburg is one of Sweden’s largest procurers, driving the market towards circularity. City administrations and companies are joining forces to build capacity for action on a circular economy and by mobilizing key actors, as well as to nudge behavioural change, involving various stakeholders in the city. Building the infrastructure for the shared and circular economy together with civil society organisations is also a key component.
7. Urban farming, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions
In collaboration with entrepreneurs, business sector, academia and civil society actors, the City supports the increase of urban farming through land allocation, procurement, by running collaboration platforms and supporting innovation. Closely linked to this is urban planning measures to enable food production, nature-based solutions as well as green infrastructure for enhanced ecosystem services.
What is a Climate City Contract
The City of Gothenburg is one of seven cities in Sweden and 112 cities across Europe mobilizing around the mission for climate-neutral cities by 2030. Inspired by Viable Cities’ national Climate Contract 2030, the EU has developed a Climate City Contract (CCC). A Climate City Contract outlines the cities’ commitments to climate neutrality and includes an action plan as well as an investment plan.
The Climate City Contract is more than a document. It is a process off assembling all relevant efforts and plans, and for connecting most relevant stakeholders around the City’s ambition to reach its climate goal. Continuous revision will ensure that it will be a continuous tool for joint information sharing, collaboration and decision-making. Together with the Climate Transition Strategy and the national Viable Cities climate contract, the Climate City Contract will be much more than a manifestation – it will be one of the City’s most important tools for successful climate transition.
Mission Label
The EU Mission Label is an important milestone in the cities’ work and a confirmation from the EU’s mission for 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 (Cities Mission) that the city’s plans for the local transition journey are ambitious and on the right track.
The European Commission has reviewed the City of Gothenburg’s Climate City Contract with the support of experts from, among others, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Cities that receive a “Mission Label” can use it as proof that they have the EU’s confidence in their plans to achieve climate neutrality, for example when approaching public and private financiers.
On 22 October 2024, Maria Jacobsson, Director of the Environmental Administration and Karin Pleijel (MP), Chair of the Environment and Climate Committee, were at the European Parliament in Strasbourg and received the EU Mission Label award, as representatives of Gothenburg.
More information
Göteborgs Stad firade utmärkelse för klimatarbete » Vårt Göteborg
Pressmeddelande: Göteborgs klimatarbete får erkännande av EU
EU Mission 100 klimatneutrala och smarta städer 2030
EUs Mission Label till tre svenska städer — viablecities.se
EU awards 20 cities for climate efforts - zagdaily.com
A new group of 20 cities receives EU Mission Label for their efforts towards climate neutrality