Major climate agreement in place: Aarhus must be climate neutral by 2030

AARHUS: The visions have been too unclear and the concrete actions too few since Aarhus Municipality decided in 2008 that the municipality should be climate neutral by 2030. This must now be adopted climate agreement make up for it.

On Monday evening, a majority of the city council in Aarhus Municipality agreed on a climate agreement for 2025-2030, which will ensure that Aarhus becomes climate neutral in just six years.

This is what Aarhus Municipality writes in a press release.

With the agreement, the politicians have agreed on a total financial framework of DKK 300 million. DKK. The money must go, among other things, to remove 405,000 tonnes of CO₂ by making more green energy and by capturing CO₂ from the chimneys of e.g. district heating systems and storing it in the ground . Central to the agreement is a new CO₂ capture plant at the Lisbjerg plant.

- The people of Aarhus will encounter more renewable energy such as solar cells on the roofs and more wind turbines, more natural and production forest, fewer CO₂-loading low-lying soils and more recycling. Other measures will be more technical and less visible, e.g. establishment of a biogenic energy park that produces energy from biological material, fewer emissions and stricter climate requirements for conversion and new construction, says mayor Jacob Bundsgaard (S).

Mobility plan on the way

What consequences the climate agreement will have for motorists in Aarhus has not yet been clarified. The city council must agree on a mobility plan later this spring.

Regarding the significance of the climate agreement for road users, Aarhus Municipality writes that "according to the parties to the settlement, it is necessary that there be a conversion from fossil fuel to greener transport in the form of electric cars, public transport, bicycles and pedestrians."

Despite the fact that the mobility agreement has not yet been debated and adopted by the city council, the settlement parties have agreed that 319,000 tonnes of CO₂ must be reduced from the transport area, which covers cars, trucks, buses and air traffic .

It is a happy mayor who stepped out of the city council chamber on Monday evening:

- I am satisfied with the climate agreement, which brings Aarhus one step further towards a sustainable future. We are all feeling the global climate crisis with violent weather, floods and droughts. It calls for action. With the agreement, a majority in the city council takes responsibility for creating a successful green transition in Aarhus, where we reduce the climate footprint to zero and at the same time invest in climate-friendly actions, says the mayor.

Abandoned the negotiations

The agreement was concluded by the Social Democrats, the Conservatives, SF, Venstre, Radikale Venstre, Enhedslisten and Thure Hastrup (independent).

The Denmark Democrats' city council member Jacob Søgaard Clausen left the negotiations, as "it is unrealistic and ends up being unnecessary and really expensive for the people of Aarhus", he believes.

Jacob Søgaard Clausen believes in particular that the agreement lacks citizen involvement:

- Civic involvement is a city in Russia. The people of Aarhus will only be involved after the city council has made the basic decisions. Hit first and ask later is the approach, he says.

Read more about the climate agreement here.