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The municipality of Köniz, with around 44,000 residents in the canton of Bern, has consistently implemented measures in the areas of energy and climate protection in recent years. It has been a “Gold Energy City” since 2011 and regularly draws up a greenhouse gas balance sheet. Its own climate targets are clear: the municipal administration is to achieve net zero by 2035, and the entire municipal area is to follow suit by 2045. But what happens if the municipality's own reduction path is not adhered to? How can the municipality offset residual emissions? Together with Swiss Climate, the role of climate protection projects in the net-zero reduction pathway was evaluated.
The climate protection regulations of the city of Köniz stipulate that the climate targets should be achieved primarily through the city's own measures to reduce emissions. Certificates from climate protection projects are only intended for unavoidable emissions and as a temporary solution, and should come from local projects. Against this background, Swiss Climate was commissioned to develop a comprehensive concept that would identify options and provide a basis for decision-making on how to deal with remaining emissions, as well as setting out clear guidelines and fields of action.
The aim of the project was to evaluate the sensible use of climate protection projects for Köniz and to raise awareness of this topic among the relevant stakeholders within the administration in a workshop. The guiding concept concisely summarizes the relevant know-how, focusing on two central aspects:
Procurement and eligibility of certificates: A thorough analysis of the quality and selection of certificates from climate protection projects, their eligibility for the community's net-zero targets, and the expected costs.
In addition to these fundamentals, the Köniz community's guiding concept offers practical examples and clear recommendations for planning further steps.
On the basis of the guiding concept, Swiss Climate conducted a workshop in which representatives from the municipal administration jointly discussed specific guiding principles and practice-oriented recommendations for action. This workshop helped to raise awareness and provided a first platform for designing a community-specific strategy that takes into account various political processes and includes specific approaches for directly shaping climate protection at the local level. In this context, a roadmap for the years up to 2050 was outlined, which clearly summarizes current priorities, the political framework, planned revisions and possible measures. The roadmap and the workshop enabled the municipal administration to identify both short- and long-term potential for action and to evaluate possible measures to achieve their net-zero targets in a planned and effective manner.
«Swiss Climate provided us with expert and professional support in interpreting the topic of 'offsetting greenhouse gas emissions' and identifying possible courses of action. Our framework and needs were always taken into account.»
- Adrian Stämpfli, Köniz municipal authority, environmental and energy office
The following services provided by Swiss Climate were used in this project: