News 09 December 2019 News from SKAO
The municipality of Arnhem fulfills an exemplary role in sustainability with the CO2 Performance Ladder
The municipality of Arnhem has recently obtained a certificate on the CO2 Performance Ladder. With this, the municipality strives to fulfill its exemplary role in the transition to green energy and sustainability. A certificate on the Ladder makes it possible to manage CO2 reduction both within business operations and on projects.
Arnhem is aiming for CO2 reduction
The municipality of Arnhem has the ambition to achieve a 40 percent CO2 reduction in 2023 compared to 2018. That is why the municipality has decided to be certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder. Earlier, alderman Jan van Dellen took over the relay baton "Getting Started with the CO2 Performance Ladder" from Secretary-General Lidewijde Ongering of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW). Both the alderman and the Secretary-General were present at the Roadshow "CO2 Performance Ladder for Governments", which took place on October the 30th at the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment in The Hague. By taking over the relay baton, Arnhem indicated that it would follow the example of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment and be certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder. The municipality thus demonstrates that it is continuously working on CO2 reduction in both business operations and in projects.
On December the 5th the municipality of Arnhem officially received its certificate on level 3 of the CO2 Performance Ladder. The certifying institution and SKAO were present. Not only the municipality of Arnhem, but also Sportbedrijf Arnhem and Scalabor (social work provision within the municipality of Arnhem) are thus certified on the CO2 Performance Ladder.
In order to achieve its CO2 reduction objective and to meet the requirements of the CO2 Performance Ladder, the municipality has developed the Arnhem Climate Plan. "For an organization the size of the municipality of Arnhem, it was a major challenge to determine the CO2 footprint," says Maud Wolf, board advisor for the municipality of Arnhem, working within the New Energy made program in Arnhem (NemiA). The municipality of Arnhem considers it important to play an exemplary role in the nationwide transition to sustainability and green energy.
Bet on green electricity to save CO2
“As a municipality, we wanted to determine our CO2 footprint much earlier, but that was not possible without the energy consumption data. Because of the enormous effort we first focused on energy consumption and because we are now using the CO2 Performance Ladder, we can manage our ambitions and measures to reduce CO2. ”
Electricity consumed by the municipality has the largest share in the CO2 footprint, followed by natural gas, district heating and target group transport. Important measures for CO2 reduction are the sustainability of and saving of energy in the buildings, the greening of electricity and the corporate social responsible tendering of target group transport. Wolf: “The municipality owns many properties that it currently wants to make more sustainable. The step has already been taken with energy-saving measures, such as LED lighting, and the generation of renewable energy. There are more than 5,000 solar panels on our municipal buildings. Energy saving is also considered in our swimming pools, for example, one of the swimming pools is filtered with glass, so that you use less energy. We are also looking at how we can heat our buildings without natural gas. ”The municipality is also focusing on reducing the fleet of vehicles and driving electrically to further reduce CO2 emissions.”
Level 5 on the CO2 Performance Ladder in 2023
In the Climate Plan, the municipality of Arnhem has stated a clear ambition with regard to the CO2 Performance Ladder: achieve level 4 in 2021 and level 5 by 2023. Arnhem still has to tackle a number of challenges for this to become reality. "Sometimes sustainability is still seen as a kind of ‘extra topping’. We want to include CO2 reduction and sustainability as a starting point for our work. Fortunately, that is happening more and more, for example in the Public Space projects”, says Wolf. “What I notice is that many sustainable measures are still seen as something that must be returned on investments. Not all sustainable measures can be recouped, but this should not be a threshold to make the investment in sustainability. It also has to do with a bit of awareness and behavioral change. I still see a big challenge in that. ”
Despite the challenges that the municipality of Arnhem is faced with, the board advisor is convinced that level 5 on the CO2 Performance Ladder will be achievable in 2023. “We are now busy preparing to achieve level 4 on the Ladder. In level 4 the organization is focusing on purchasing and tenders, among others in the Ground Road and Hydraulic Engineering, a sector where we have already gained experience working with the CO2 Performance Ladder. By also certifying ourselves as a municipality, we give a concrete signal to the market. We are serious about reducing CO2 emissions and ask of the parties we work with to do the same.”