The city of Aachen's digital climate protection monitoring shows where we stand on the road to climate neutrality and what measures the city administration is taking. The ClimateView software solution graphically processes complex climate data to provide a quick overview of climate protection in Aachen. But those who want to know more will also find what they are looking for on the online platform.
Two menu areas are currently available on the online platform. Under "Emissions path", greenhouse gas emissions (converted into carbon dioxide equivalents,CO2eq) are visualized based on historical data and the reduction target for the period 2015-2030. The "Measures" section provides an overview of the climate protection measures of the city administration's Integrated Climate Protection Concept 2.0 (IKSK 2.0).
The "Reduction path" menu area will be published in the future. The necessary transformations to achieve climate neutrality are shown there and the city administration's climate protection measures are provided with reduction potentials.
Based on the historical data (up to 2024) and the reduction target of the EU mission (from 2024), the emissions trend for the period 2015-2030 is shown. The stored historical climate data (2015-2024) can be viewed broken down into the areas of buildings, industry, waste and transportation.
Greenhouse gas emissions in the city of Aachen have been recorded and documented in a structured manner since 1993. Since 2010, the balance sheet has been compiled annually by the specialist administration for the previous year. The assessment can only be completed and published 12 to 14 months after the end of the year to be assessed. The data required to calculate the balance sheet is not fully available until the third quarter of the following year at the earliest and therefore largely determines the timing of the balance sheet. The presentation of the emissions pathway in ClimateView will start in 2014.
The data basis for the annual balancing is formed by the final energy consumption in the city area and is supplemented by statistical data records on mobility in Aachen.
Final energy: The information on final energy demand and consumption is derived from the data collected annually on the energy fed into the municipal supply networks, the consumption data of the municipal buildings and data from the city statistics (inhabitants, labor statistics, etc.). In concrete terms, this means local electricity, gas, district heating, heating oil and fuel consumption. The balance sheet based on this also includes the so-called upstream chains of the respective final energy sources used. Upstream chains are defined as the effort required to produce and transport the energy to the end consumer in Aachen.
Statistical mobility data: The data set on mobility in Aachen includes statistical data on vehicle kilometers by vehicle type, fuel type and road type as well as specific consumption by road type and emission factors for fuels. In the current balance sheet, the fuel mix for passenger cars in the transport sector was adjusted on the basis of the "Mobility in Germany" study, which was carried out in Aachen in 2023 and 2024. In particular, the number of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in Aachen is higher than the national average. There were also slight shifts in the distribution of petrol and diesel drive types. The study was conducted for the last time in 2017. Values were also adjusted here. The values for the years 2018 to 2023 were interpolated accordingly.
The proportion ofCO2eq emissionsto be reduced results from the city of Aachen's participation in the EU's "100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities" mission. The EU stipulates that 80% ofCO2eqemissions from the base year 2021 must be reduced by 2030. The remaining 20% may be offset as unavoidable emissions. In concrete terms, this means that the emissions of 1,733 ktCO2eq (approx. 100%) from 2021 are to be reduced by at least 1,386 ktCO2eq (80%) by the target year 2030 and a maximum of 347 ktCO2eq (approx. 20%) are to be offset.
An overview of the activities to achieve Aachen's climate protection target is provided here. So far, the measures of the city administration, which were politically adopted in 2024 with the IKSK 2.0, have been included. In the future, the savings and reduction potential from the measures of the partners in the Climate City Contract will be added on an accumulated basis per sector.
The Integrated Climate Protection Concept 2.0 is the city administration's contribution to Aachen's path to climate neutrality. With the action programme politically adopted in 2024, 30 climate protection measures were prioritized for implementation by 2030. The selection was based on the criteria of climate impact, cost-effectiveness and feasibility. The introduction of "digital climate protection monitoring" is one of these measures. The aim is to make the progress towards climate neutrality visible and to visualize the progress of the city administration's measures and the associated reduction potential. The implementation of all climate protection measures adopted in IKSK2.0 will result in a reduction potential of 200 ktCO2eqby 2030 (see Gertec report). This is 12% of the 100% or 14% of the required 80% reduction in relation to the base year 2021.
A detailed report on the implementation status of the city administration's individual climate protection measures can be found in the last ICSK2.0 status report to politicians in March 2026.
Here we answer further questions about the content shown in ClimateView. Your question is not answered here? Then please contact klimaschutz@mail.aachen.de
Responsibility lies with the Department of Climate and Environment. The department was commissioned by the City Council to implement the ICSK 2.0 measure "Digital climate protection monitoring". To acquire the necessary software, the specialist administration conducted a requirements analysis together with regio iT in August 2024. As a result of this selection process, ClimateView was selected and procured in November 2025. ClimateView Dashboard was released in March 2026.
Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂ eq) are a unit of measurement used to compare the climate impact of various greenhouse gases. It is not only carbon dioxide (CO₂) that damages the climate, but also other gases such as methane (CH₄) or nitrous oxide (N₂O). However, these have a stronger effect than CO₂.
To make it easier to compare, you calculate how much CO₂ would have the same effect on the climate. This result is called CO₂eq.
Example: 1 kg of methane has approximately the same effect as 25 kg of CO₂. So 1 kg of methane = 25 kg of CO₂ eq.
The proportion ofCO2eq emissionsto be reduced shown results from the City of Aachen's participation in the EU's "100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities" mission. The EU stipulates that 80% of emissions from the base year 2021 must be reduced by 2030. The remaining 20% may be offset as unavoidable emissions.
There are two reasons for the slight differences of around 1-2% in relation to total emissions. Firstly, different accounting systems are used: The municipal balance sheet is based on the BISKO standard, while ClimateView uses the GPC standard.
Secondly, the urban balance sheet only takes energy-related emissions into account. ClimateView, on the other hand, already includes additional emission sources, for example emissions from wastewater treatment. In principle, other non-energy-related emissions, for example from industrial processes or agriculture, can also be shown there.
However, there is currently insufficient data available for these additional emissions. In the future, they will also be integrated into the presentation.
The decline in emissions in 2020 is due to the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown and other restrictions resulted in less travel and production. In addition, many companies were able to work from home. There were fewer cars on the road and many companies restricted their operations. The resulting reduction in overall energy consumption in all areas also led to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
After the economy and therefore emissions picked up again in 2021 following the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine began in 2022. Germany's heavy dependence on Russian gas led to an unsecured supply of gas (gas shortage). As a result, gas was saved in all sectors in order to further secure supplies, which led to a significant slump in emissions in 2022.
Annual greenhouse gas emissions per person in Germany currently average 10.3 tCO2ä. Would you like to know more? The Federal Environment Agency's CO2 calculator enables a quick initial assessment of your annual emissions and the creation of a detailed balance sheet. Click here for the calculator: https://uba.co2-rechner.de/