Leuven

Belgium

Mission city Pilot city
Belgium National Platform
Leuven Mission City Label
Population 110k
City Area 34.5 km²
City active since June 2022

Leuven is a compact Belgian city with a big brain and an even bigger sense of urgency. Home to a major university and a dense historic centre, the city feels climate change up close: hotter summers that refuse to cool down at night, increasing pressure on water resources and heavier rainfall that pushes urban drainage to its limits.

 

Rather than treating climate action as a technical obligation, Leuven frames it as a way to build a better city. Fewer emissions mean healthier streets, more attractive public spaces and a stronger sense of future-proofing for residents, students and businesses alike. Climate neutrality is not just about cutting carbon, but about improving daily life.

 

What really sets Leuven apart is how it does climate action. Cooperation is not an add-on — it is the system. Through Leuven 2030, a city-wide platform launched in 2013, climate neutrality became a shared project between the city, the university, companies, civil society, public institutions and citizens. All partners sit at the same table, with equal voice and shared responsibility for results.

 

Leuven’s approach is built on trust, participation and long-term commitment. By turning climate ambition into a collective effort rather than a top-down plan, the city is testing what climate governance can look like when everyone is invited — and expected — to help shape the transition to net zero.

 

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Key Learnings

Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven SPREADSHEET

The Leuven Impact Framework was designed to evaluate direct impacts and societal co-benefits generated by projects within the Leuven Climate Portfolio. Through five practical cases, it encompasses calculation methods for GHG reductions and other impact indicators within 8 different interventions, spanning all five emission domains.  This approach ensures that the calculation methods are grounded in realistic cases and are usable via very simple and easily attainable project KPI’s and inputs.  This spreadsheet template allows for quick benchmarking, while the comprehensive indicator list transparently reports on calculation methods and can be used as a starting point for more in-depth analyses. Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven REPORT and Q&A Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven video TUTORIAL Efforts to secure financing for the Leuven Climate Portfolio revealed that, while these projects are deemed highly valuable for the climate transition, their direct financial returns are low, even by impact investment standards. Consequently, feedback from the financial sector suggested that providing more quantified insights into the co-benefits would be beneficial for attracting impact capital. Although these projects might not directly benefit investors financially, they offer substantial indirect societal benefits. To attract impact investors interested in such projects, these societal co-benefits must be clarified and quantified wherever possible, including assigning monetary values to the co-benefits, even if they do not result in direct investor gains. In case any partners would like to take further steps with the material provided, we’d really appreciate staying involved where relevant. Please reach out to sarah.hennin@leuven2030.be and mira.conci@climate-kic.org.  

Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven

This report details the development and operational principles of the Leuven Impact Framework, designed to evaluate direct impacts and societal co-benefits generated by projects within the Leuven Climate Portfolio. A Q&A section highlights key questions and adresses practical concerns. Through five practical cases, it encompasses calculation methods for GHG reductions and other impacts within 8 different interventions, spanning all five emission domains.  This approach ensures that the calculation methods are grounded in realistic cases and are usable via very simple and easily attainable project KPI’s and inputs.  The spreadsheet template allows for quick benchmarking, while the comprehensive indicator list transparently reports on calculation methods and can be used as a starting point for more in-depth analyses. Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven SPREADSHEET Quantification of impacts for a Climate Action Portfolio - A model for the City of Leuven video TUTORIAL Efforts to secure financing for the Leuven Climate Portfolio revealed that, while these projects are deemed highly valuable for the climate transition, their direct financial returns are low, even by impact investment standards. Consequently, feedback from the financial sector suggested that providing more quantified insights into the co-benefits would be beneficial for attracting impact capital. Although these projects might not directly benefit investors financially, they offer substantial indirect societal benefits. To attract impact investors interested in such projects, these societal co-benefits must be clarified and quantified wherever possible, including assigning monetary values to the co-benefits, even if they do not result in direct investor gains. In case any partners would like to take further steps with the material provided, we’d really appreciate staying involved where relevant. Please reach out to sarah.hennin@leuven2030.be and mira.conci@climate-kic.org.  

Leuven 2030

Author: Leuven 2030 Category: City Net Zero Policy Published/Created by: Leuven 2030 Link: https://en.leuven2030.be/about-leuven-2030 https://roadmap-en.leuven2030.be/pdf/Leuven_2030_Roadmap_Summary_version2019.pdf  In 2013, Leuven set up Leuven2030, a municipal authority group involving NGOs, businesses and many other participants tasked with delivering carbon neutrality by 2030. This innovative governance structure has greatly accelerated the city’s ability to carry out climate policy, and buoyed its support from the community. The group periodically creates roadmaps — the most recent one covers 80 different areas of action, from public transport to creating climate neutral business supply chains. A roadmap also includes indirect emissions, a dimension that most cities have yet to consider. While anyone is welcome, they must also be committed to tackling the problem. In order to join the group, potential members must present a binding green plan of action. Leuven2030’s citizen engagement and system-wide approach to climate policy also creates a sense of ownership from the local community, which increases the likelihood of compliance.  The Roadmap 2025 · 2035 · 2050, drawn up by Leuven 2030 and numerous experts, serves as a guideline for achieving the goal of a climate-neutral city by 2050. In 2018, Leuven 2030, with the help of urban-planning agency BUUR and a large number of local experts, created this roadmap, to serve as a guide for achieving climate neutrality by 2050 (which will require an emissions  reduction of at least 80%). To help achieve this goal, the Roadmap offers a timeline containing all the steps the city is to take by 2025 and 2035: residents, businesses, knowledge institutions, and civil society. This roadmap builds on Leuven 2030’s Scientific Rapport (2013), broadening the scope and refining the timeline. Until recently, Leuven 2030’s focus lay primarily on scope 1 and scope 2: the emissions produced directly on Leuven’s territory (scope 1) and the emissions produced elsewhere to supply Leuven’s electricity (scope 2).
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