Our recipe for a green transition not only has the potential to solve the climate challenge in Sønderborg. It can be used all over the world. We want to show other cities the way and inspire them to create their own transformation, and we’re already well on our way.
New ProjectZero on the way in Singapore
By 2030, at least one in five educational institutions in Singapore will be carbon neutral. This is one of several goals in the ambitious Green Plan, which aims to make Singapore an Asian role model in sustainability.
One of Singapore’s largest universities, Singapore Polytechnic, wants to be a national role model and make its entire campus carbon neutral. The recipe comes from our ProjectZero and we have agreed to be partners on the Asian project.
Singapore’s ProjectZero still doesn’t have an official name, but it will be a localized version of Sønderborg’s vision. The ambition is for Singapore Polytechnic to serve as an inspiration and showcase for Singapore’s other educational institutions.
The project in Singapore will encompass the entire 38-hectare campus, which, in addition to teaching facilities for 12,800 students, is also home to student housing, shops and an area with sports facilities such as a swimming pool and stadium.
Sonderborg climate plan is awarded with the EU Mission Label
12 October 2023 Sonderborg received the EU Mission Label. The award is the European Commission’s quality stamp of the ProjectZero Masterplan that is leading the way to making our energy system carbon-neutral by 2029.
Sonderborg is amongst the first 10 cities receiving the award – and the first in Denmark.
Cities account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions and consume over 65% of the world’s energy. In 2022 the EU therefore appointed 100 ambitious climate cities to take part in developing new methods for green transition to support all European cities in becoming climate neutral by 2050.
The designated cities must all draw up a Climate City Contract (CCC), which contains the city’s goals and plans for climate neutrality. The Mission Label states that their Climate City Contract has been reviewed and approved by the European Commission with support from experts – including the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Joint Research Center (JRC).
Obtaining the EU’s Mission Label can, among other things, help facilitate access to funding from the EU, national and regional funding sources, including private investment.
“Sønderborg is the global capital of energy efficiency”
Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
International action plan is named after Sønderborg
In 2022, Sønderborg hosted the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) annual conference on energy efficiency.
Among the participants were ministers from 27 countries. The ministers jointly prepared a statement recognizing the importance of energy efficiency and of the so-called Sønderborg Action Plan – a set of strategic principles and policy tools to help governments quickly execute on energy efficiency.
At the Paris conference in 2023, participants followed up on the Sønderborg Action Plan.