City of Copenhagen

Copenhagen has the ambition of becoming the first carbon neutral capital by 2025. The goal is supported by the CPH 2025 Climate Plan, which the City Council adopted in 2009. A midterm goal was to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2015, which is a goal Copenhagen met already in 2011. Since 1995, Copenhagen has reduced carbon emissions by 50 percent. The CPH 2025 Climate Plan is a holistic plan with a collection of specific goals and initiatives within four focus areas:

• Energy Consumption
• Energy Production
• Green Mobility
• City Administration Initiatives

Examples of sustainable city solutions in Copenhagen;

• Increased mobility through integrated transport and cycling solutions has reduced congestion significantly and improved health of the citizens. Since 2005 one billion DKK have been invested in bike lanes and super cycle highways and 45 % of the Copenhageners are biking to work or school every day.
• Cleaning the harbor has lead to attractive urban areas with better quality of life, improved local business life, created jobs and generated revenue in the area. The harbour is now so clean that Copenhageners swim in it.
• A very efficient district heating system where 98 % of all households are connected.
• A new district cooling system where cold is taken of the harbor water. It saves 70% of the energy compared to traditional air-conditioning.

These are only a few of the benefits achieved through sustainable city solutions. In Copenhagen urban green solutions are already being implemented on a large scale and used by citizens. The city solutions have had significant effects on CO2 emissions and at the same time, they have increased the liveability in the city. Besides our goal to become the first carbon neutral capital in the world, we must also cope with the climate changes and the challenges they present in the city. Copenhagen will also be affected by the global changes in the climate. It is therefore important for the city to be prepared for the climate of the future.