Reykjavík Carbon Neutral by 2040

Reykjavík City  has put forward a climate policy paper with an action plan where goals are established for a carbon neutral city by 2040.
 

In Reykjavík all electricity is produced with hydroelectric power and houses are geothermally heated, energy usage in district heating releases no green house gas. The release of green house gasses in Reykjavík is minor compared with international figures, or 2,8 CO2 tons per person in the year 2013. Transport is the main source for green house gas emissions and is the largest challenge for the city.

 

In the city‘s Municipal Plan 2010-2030 the goal is to change travel modes so public transport will rise from 4% to 12% and the ratio of pedestrians and cyclists should rise from 19% to over 30% in 2030.

 

Reykjavík was the first municipality in Iceland to make a policy on reduction on green house gas emissions in 2009. In 2016 the Reykjavík City Council decided to go further and make even more ambitious goals: Reykjavík City will be carbon neutral by 2040.

„Cities play a key role in the fight against climate change. They can react quickly and have many possibilities of enacting change,“ says Dagur B. Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavík.