Press releases

Aachen is climate-neutral by 2030 - that is the goal. A large number of changes and the united action of the entire urban society are needed to achieve this goal. As one of 100 cities in the EU's "100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities" mission, Aachen has drawn up a Climate City Agreement as a city-wide plan for the path to climate neutrality in 2030 and submitted it to Brussels in March. In addition to Aachen's Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen, 134 other stakeholders from urban society, including companies, associations, voluntary initiatives, church institutions, universities, schools and networks, have signed the Climate City Contract.

The aim is now to accelerate the implementation of the action plan of the Aachen Climate City Contract through private capital, for example from the European Investment Bank. In addition to capital, the implementation of the action plan also requires the right framework conditions and expertise in order to remove potential obstacles and find innovative solutions. In order to discuss these obstacles as well as opportunities and potential, the Mayor of the City of Aachen, Sibylle Keupen, recently invited all premium partners, representatives of local politics, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Aachen Chamber of Crafts to the first meeting of the "Aachen Climate City Contract" board of trustees in the town hall. The majority of the partners accepted the invitation.

In addition to impulses from the "Climate-neutral Aachen 2030" office by Dr. Carin Jansen and on "Municipal Heat Planning" by Dipl.-Geogr. Bastian Peukert from the City of Aachen's Climate and Environment Department, this first meeting focused on the needs of the Climate City Contract partners - especially the business community. Raphael Jonas, Managing Director of IHK Aachen for Technology and Innovation and Energy Policy Spokesperson of NRW IHK, presented the results of a survey of the companies involved in the Climate City Agreement. These revealed an urgent need for change in the areas of mobility, energy, buildings and accelerated planning. In a next step, these are now to be introduced into the political discourse and the city administration.

The first meeting of the "Aachen Climate City Contract" board of trustees was seen by the participants as a great enrichment for the joint path to a climate-neutral and resilient city. The members of the Board of Trustees have decided to meet every six months in order to consolidate the valuable exchange. In addition, specialist committees will be formed in which other partners of the Climate City Agreement will be involved with their expertise, for example on the topics of the energy transition or the economy.

The partnerships
All signatories have submitted a commitment that distinguishes between three forms of participation:

• Premium partnership: voluntary commitment to become climate-neutral by 2035 at the latest.

• Framework partnership: voluntary commitment to implement specific measures that make a concrete contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city.

• Basic partnership: Commitment to provide support/consulting services to accelerate the path to climate neutrality.

In October, the Aachen Climate City Contract was awarded the "Mission Label" by the European Commission. This "Mission Label" is a seal of quality that gives Aachen access to further support services such as funding or the innovative financing instrument Climate City Capital Hub.

Information on the Climate City Contract at www.klimaneutrales-aachen-2030.de and lots of information on climate protection in Aachen at www.aachenklima.de.