Sønderborg’s initiative to reach climate neutrality by 2029 recognized as a “replicable, adaptable and scalable” decarbonization model for cities worldwide.
The World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation and UN-Habitat has honored ProjectZero with its Award of Distinction for Public-Private Collaboration in Cities in recognition of the positive and measurable impact demonstrated in the city of Sønderborg in southern Denmark.
ProjectZero was established as a public-private partnership in 2007 with a vision of turning Sønderborg Municipality’s energy system carbon neutral by 2029. The ProjectZero model focuses on creating and demonstrating an intelligent and integrated energy system across an entire municipality, offering energy savings. ProjectZero is one of the main reasons that Dr Faith Birol, Director of the IEA, named Sønderborg “the global capital of energy efficiency” at last year’s IEA conference on energy efficiency.
In response to ProjectZero receiving the award, Brian Seeberg, CEO, ProjectZero, said: “The strong commitment and collaboration in our partnership is the very backbone of ProjectZero, and the key to reaching zero in 2029. I am therefore very pleased that this award recognizes this unique partnership. Cities around the world can turn to Sønderborg as a blueprint for how to reduce their own emissions. We’ve shown it is possible to make an impact by focusing on three key principles: energy efficiency, sector integration and green energy sources. This is something all cities around the world can and should do.”