Pioneer city: Mission climate-neutral city

What is the goal of the pioneering city?

The "Pioneer City: Mission Climate Neutral City" project funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection (BMK) aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. A total of ten "pioneering large cities" and 37 "pioneering small towns" from all Austrian federal states are part of this mission. These cities represent around 40% of the Austrian population. The ten pioneering large cities have entered into an official partnership with the BMK. They have committed to making their city administrations climate-neutral and developing climate-friendly districts. The pioneering small towns are working on climate neutrality roadmaps that include strategies and measures for the energy and mobility transition.

What are the tasks of the pioneering city?

The tasks of the Pioneer City project focus on the areas of governance, implementation and learning environment. The governance area also includes comprehensive greenhouse gas balancing at city level. The project team implements the individual measures step by step in close cooperation with the city administration and the municipal holdings.

Governance

Governance aims to improve the administrative and legal framework conditions for achieving climate neutrality. This includes optimizing these framework conditions at city, state and federal level in order to efficiently implement climate-relevant measures. Streamlined and efficient processes, the integration of climate criteria and the promotion of a climate neutrality culture at Magistrate and city level will accelerate the achievement of climate neutrality for the City of Innsbruck.

Greenhouse gas accounting

In the context of governance, greenhouse gas accounting plays a central role in the targeted management of climate protection measures. By setting up a comprehensive database and creating a starting balance sheet, the city's main sources of emissions can be identified and specific reduction measures can be developed. A monitoring system and the continuous improvement of data quality guarantee a sound, data-based decision-making basis for future projects.

Implementation

Another focus of the project is on the further development of climate-neutral neighborhoods, whereby solutions are developed. By analyzing renovation, demolition and new construction work, comprehensive measures and methods are evaluated and their replicability and scalability to other districts is tested. The use of national and transnational funding will be targeted in order to advance the areas of technology development and innovation.

Learning environment

The learning environment area aims to establish and deepen the exchange and cooperation between the city administrations of all pioneering cities as well as stakeholders and various actors. The jointly generated knowledge and awareness of climate protection measures should lead to a climate neutrality culture that is ultimately promoted and anchored among all participants.