Jena climate neutral

The climate action plan was developed together with target GmbH in a participatory process over a period of around one and a half years. The Advisory Board for Climate Protection and Sustainable Development actively supported the process of developing appropriate measures. Together with many other relevant municipal stakeholders, such as the Stadtwerke Jena Group, various working group meetings and themed workshops were held to develop measures that should lead Jena to climate neutrality by 2035.

An online ideas map also gave all citizens of the city of Jena the opportunity to submit suggestions for the climate action plan during the development process. For three months, interested people were able to submit their ideas, as well as suggest and evaluate measures. The proposals submitted can be found on the online ideas map(link is external).

The completed plan was finally confirmed by the Jena City Council at its meeting on 19.04.2023 and the resolution "Climate Action Plan: Jena climate-neutral by 2035". At the same time, the city administration was commissioned to implement it.

In the climate neutrality scenario, the climate action plan shows how many greenhouse gas emissions can be saved in various sectors.

Buildings and neighborhoods

In the buildings and neighborhoods sector, electricity consumption must be reduced by 15 % by 2035 through increased efficiency and sufficiency. To achieve this target, 2% of the building stock would have to be renovated to an average renovation depth corresponding to the KfW 55 standard. At the same time, 70% of single-family homes must be supplied with heat pumps and 70-80% of multi-family homes with district heating in order to achieve the sector target.

Companies

In the business sector, i.e. trade, commerce and services, electricity consumption must also be reduced by 15 %. To achieve this, 2% of the building stock would have to be refurbished with an average refurbishment depth corresponding to the KfW 55 standard. In addition, 60% of the heat supply for the tertiary sector must be provided by district heating.

City administration

The city administration buildings must also achieve electricity savings of 15 %. The aim is to achieve an annual refurbishment rate of 3% for the building stock, with an average refurbishment depth in line with the KfW 55 standard. The heat supply must be ensured exclusively through district heating or other renewable energies by 2035.

Mobility

One third of Jena's greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the mobility sector. Car traffic must be reduced by 30 %, which corresponds to a reduction in the share of motorized private transport in the modal split from the current 35 % to 20 %. The share of local public transport in the modal split must increase to 22% by 2035 and all local public transport must be operated electrically or with alternative drives in order to achieve the sector target.

Energy supply

However, the energy supply sector plays a crucial role. By 2035, 85% of district heating must be generated using renewable energies or hydrogen and by 2040, 85% must be generated using the thermal energy of the Saale river. Another goal is for 100% of the electricity consumed in Jena to be generated from renewable energy sources.

To implement the climate neutrality scenario, 73 measures were developed in the defined subject areas in a catalog of measures. The aim of the catalog of measures is not to list the large number of small individual measures. Instead, all of the measures mentioned in the participation process were reviewed for their relevance and summarized in packages of measures.

The measures are divided into three categories. Immediate measures are to be treated as a priority, if possible by the end of 2024. Flagship measures are of particular importance as their impact and/or greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction potential is especially high. They are characterized by the fact that several individual measures are combined organizationally. In contrast to immediate measures, however, the implementation of these measures is accompanied by a longer lead time. Further measures are defined as accompanying measures. These are just as important for achieving the targets, but have a smaller impact on the GHG reduction potential and essentially serve to support the key measures or have the aim of supporting the Climate Action Plan through communication, information and networking.

You can find the catalog of measures under Downloads.