Overview of climate protection

The city of Jena has set itself the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2035. With the resolution "Jena climate-neutral by 2035" of 14.07.2021, the city council of the city of Jena has committed itself to this ambitious climate protection goal. At the same time, the city administration was commissioned to draw up a climate action plan, the implementation of which will lead the city of Jena to climate neutrality by 2035. The aim of the climate action plan is to show which municipal measures are required to achieve this.

The city of Jena has commissioned target GmbH to draw up the climate action plan. The Advisory Board for Climate Protection and Sustainable Development actively supported the process of developing appropriate measures. As part of various workshops and themed workshops, measures were jointly developed that will lead Jena to climate neutrality by 2035.

City council confirms climate action plan

At its meeting on 19.04.2023, the City Council of Jena confirmed the Climate Action Plan and adopted the resolution "Climate Action Plan: Jena climate-neutral by 2035" and commissioned the city administration to implement it.

The climate action plan shows how much greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be saved in various sectors in the so-called climate neutrality scenario. To implement the climate neutrality scenario, 73 measures were developed in the defined subject areas in a catalog of measures.

Categories of measures

The measures are divided into three categories: Immediate measures, leading measures and accompanying measures.

• Immediate measures are to be treated as a priority in terms of time.
• Leading measures are of particular importance as their impact and/or GHG reduction potential is especially high. They are characterized by the fact that several individual measures are combined organizationally. In contrast to immediate measures, however, the implementation of these measures is associated with a longer lead time.
• Further measures are defined as accompanying measures. These are just as important for achieving the targets, but have a smaller impact on the GHG reduction potential and essentially serve to support the key measures or have the aim of supporting the Climate Action Plan through communication, information and networking.

You can find the report and the catalog of measures for the Climate Action Plan under Downloads.

In the Local Agenda 21 process, committed citizens came together at "round tables" at the beginning of 2000 and developed a vision for sustainable development in the city of Jena. Since 2007, the city of Jena has defined the city's climate protection goals in so-called "Energy & Climate Protection Guidelines". Annual monitoring reports show the current progress towards achieving the targets.

Energy and climate protection mission statement 2007 - 2012

The first energy and climate protection mission statement set absolute targets for reducing electricity and heating energy consumption in households, businesses and the city administration, for reducing the final energy demand in private transport and for supporting projects for the use of renewable energies and combined heat and power generation.

Energy and climate protection mission statement 2014 - 2020

The targets adopted in 2007 were updated with minor modifications for the next six years. For example, the number of inhabitants and jobs subject to social insurance contributions are now taken into account in the electricity and heating energy requirements, and specific targets for the municipal utilities' electricity production from renewable energies and the recycling of organic waste are prescribed.

Energy and climate protection mission statement 2021 - 2030

On 04.09.2019, the city council of Jena decided to update the energy and climate protection mission statement. On 16.07.2020, the City Council adopted the Energy and Climate Protection Mission Statement for the City of Jena 2021-2030. The mission statement was developed in cooperation with the Advisory Board for Climate Protection and Sustainable Development and the City of Jena.

Ambitious climate protection targets in the areas of heat, electricity, mobility, renewable energies, lifestyle and economy provide a guideline against which the city of Jena will measure itself until 2030. If individual targets are reached and exceeded ahead of schedule, an ambitious readjustment is planned. The corresponding measures to achieve the climate protection targets will be developed as part of the city of Jena's sustainability strategy.

The energy and climate protection mission statement is subject to regular monitoring. On the one hand, this is intended to ensure that the mission statement is adapted to current political and legal developments and that its objectives are being met. On the other hand, the monitoring is intended to evaluate and adapt the measures contained in the energy concept and to initiate new projects.

The monitoring reports 2013 to 2021 can be downloaded in the download area.

Monitoring 2021

The most recent short energy report is based on energy-relevant data from 2020. The aim of this monitoring was, among other things, to determine energy consumption in the areas of heat, electricity and mobility as well as the resulting CO2 emissions of the city of Jena.

From 2021, the targets of the current "Energy and Climate Protection Mission Statement 2021 to 2030" will be evaluated.

Electrical energy consumption

The electrical energy consumption of households and small businesses fell by around 18.1% between 2006 and 2020, adjusted for population and employment growth. The target was achieved.

Target by 2020:

Reduction of at least 10 % compared to 2004/2005, corrected for population and employment trends.

In city administration buildings and buildings owned by KIJ, electrical energy consumption has risen continuously since 2012/2013, with a decline in electrical energy consumption since 2017. In 2020, electrical energy consumption was below 3% of the consumption in 2012/2013 for the first time.

Target by 2020:

Reduction or stabilization of the 2012/2013 level.

Heat consumption

Climate-adjusted consumption for heating buildings and hot water for Jena households and small businesses has increased by 2.5 % since 2004/2005 and, adjusted for a factor reflecting population and employment trends, has fallen by around 9 %. The target has notyet been achieved.

Target by 2020:

Reduction of 10 % compared to 2004/2005.

In city administration buildings and buildings owned by KIJ, there was a climate-adjusted reduction in heat consumption of 36.4% compared to 2004/2005. 17.9% of heat consumption was savedcompared to 2007 . The target was achieved.

Target by 2020:

Maintain or reduce the final energy demand for space heating and hot water for buildings owned by KIJ, which has already been reduced since 2007.

Mobility

Since 1998, mobility behavior has been examined every five years as part of the System of Representative Transport Surveys (SrV). The last survey conducted by the Technical University of Dresden took place in 2018. The targets in the area of mobility were not achieved in 2018.

For the first "Corona year" 2020, mobility behavior can be assessed as completely atypical. Among other things, there was a significant slump in public transport passenger numbers. Significant changes in the modal split are likely, but it is not possible to make any reliable statements on this.

Energy-related CO2 emissions

Energy-related CO2 emissions in the electricity, heating and mobility sectors in the city of Jena are estimated to have fallen by around 71% since 1990. Despite the successes achieved to date, considerable efforts are still required. The city of Jena has set itself the goal of being climate-neutral by 2035.

It is logical for the Department of Urban Development and the Environment in particular to now also tackle greenhouse gas emissions "in-house". This not only sets an example for citizens, but also for other administrations in Jena and other cities.

The Thuringian Institute for Sustainability and Climate Protection (ThINK) and the Nachhall agency are taking up these efforts and developing them further with technical expertise. ThINK has extensive expertise in the field of quantifying greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions).

Implementation of the project

The first step was to research the available data on the department's greenhouse gas emissions in the areas of mobility, buildings, print and procurement. A questionnaire was used to collect data on the mobility behavior of employees.

The GHG calculator is then adapted to the requirements of administrative accounting and calculation of the CO2 footprint on the basis of CO2 equivalents in accordance with the principle of life cycle analysis. The analysis, the results of the assessment and specific recommendations for action are presented in a meaningful report.

Finally, the GHG balance can be carried out within the framework of climate neutrality using regional climate protection projects

Project process

The Urban Development and Environment Department has already carried out this project twice. Once in 2014 and once in 2017.

All employees were invited to a kick-off workshop to receive information about the project. The concept was presented by ThINK and the Nachhall agency. The mobility questionnaire was explained at the same time.

In a second workshop, the mobility survey was evaluated, initial results were presented and possible recommendations for action were discussed.

The recommendations for action largely correspond to the recommendations from the first study from 2014. The consistent continuation of the measures already initiated, particularly in the area of user behavior, offer the greatest potential for a further reduction in emissions.

Climate neutrality

The Urban Development and Environment Department is very committed to climate protection and is prepared to assume ecological responsibility. A climate neutral position on the voluntary offsetting market is an option for this. All emissions generated by the administration's activities are offset by planting trees.

In order to make the total emissions of approx. 175 tons of CO2 climate-neutral, the department plans to participate in the "German Climate Forest" tree planting project.

There are also plans for a tree planting campaign in the area of a daycare center in the city. A possible planting location will be determined by the results of the study "Investigation of heat stress at daycare centers and elementary school in Jena".

Every individual can reduce their CO2 emissions. But how many tons of CO2 do you actually emit each year? Where are the levers for avoiding CO2 emissions? How can I make a concrete contribution to protecting the climate?

With the Federal Environment Agency's CO2 calculator, you can determine your personal CO2 emissions for the areas of heating & electricity, mobility, food and other consumption within a few minutes.