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).