The city of Aachen is receiving new support on its path to climate neutrality: the city administration has applied with two partners - the Norwegian capital Oslo and Košice in Slovakia - for the "GRIP" project, which focuses on the implementation of "green allocation". It is one of the prioritized measures in the current Integrated Climate Protection Concept (IKSK 2.0) and in the City of Aachen's Climate City Contract.

The two councillors responsible for the topic - Frauke Burgdorff for Urban Development, Construction and Mobility and Heiko Thomas for Climate and Environment, City Operations and Buildings - are certain that the awarding of contracts is a key lever for climate-neutral development. Both are delighted that the municipal team has brought important funding opportunities for climate-neutral development to Aachen for the second time.

"Our project application was convincing and we will receive a budget of around 400,000 euros for the implementation of the project from March 2025 for the duration of 18 months," says Kristine Hess-Akens, responsible for strategic EU projects in the EU mission "100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030" at the City of Aachen. Aachen's project application is part of the "Enabling City Transformation" program, which was launched as part of the EU mission to develop innovative solutions for systemic challenges and enable sustainable transformation.

The program builds on the findings of the "Pilot Cities" program, in which Aachen, Mannheim and Münster have already successfully received EU funding. It aims to promote strategic measures that help cities achieve their climate neutrality targets. The focus is on developing activities that can be transferred to other cities.

"GRIP" as a model project for green public procurement
Public procurement is an important instrument for promoting climate protection by supporting green technologies and products as well as sustainable companies. It can increase demand for environmentally friendly products, processes and services, expand access to public contracts for companies that offer sustainable solutions and promote green economic growth. "The 'GRIP' project enables us to work with our European partners to develop a strategic approach to adapting procurement that focuses on long-term environmental impacts, systemic change and the direct integration of climate change mitigation into the awarding and procurement process," explains Daniel Schuster, Head of Contract, Procurement and Funding Management at the City of Aachen.

Working together for a sustainable future
Aachen is part of the EU mission to help 100 European cities become climate neutral by 2030. These cities are role models for climate-friendly change and should inspire other cities to follow this path by 2050. The central instrument for climate neutrality is the Climate City Agreement. In October, Aachen received the EU Commission's label as an official award for the Climate City Contract. Together with Aachen's city administration, numerous companies, institutions, associations, schools, initiatives and other stakeholders have signed the CCC.

Find out more about the city of Aachen's climate activities at www.aachenklima.de.