Last autumn, the EU announced five “missions” related to key social issues. One of these was “Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities”. After a competition, the European Commission announced in April which cities were selected. In Norway, Trondheim, Oslo and Stavanger are among the 100 chosen cities. The aim of this focus, beyond the cities being climate-neutral by 2030, is to create experimental and creative networks of cities that can share knowledge and experience with other cities with the same ambition.

Defining city emissions

Emissions that occur within a city’s boundaries as well as emissions related to a city’s own energy and heat consumption, regardless of the city’s boundaries, are what are currently regarded as a city’s emissions and which cities must focus on in order to call themselves “climate-neutral”. This includes industry, transport and waste management, and corresponds to “scopes” 1 and 2 according to the commonly used international methodology to categorise emissions. Scope 3 – which in this context is defined as indirect emissions that occur outside a city’s boundaries which are caused by the residents’ consumption – is not included here.

Individual consumption patterns affect emissions

A study published in 2018 by C40 (a network of climate-leading international cities), which assessed emissions from 79 international cities, concludes that 2/3 of emissions associated with residents’ consumption occur outside of the city itself. Various other studies have also shown that changes in individual consumption patterns and levels have a significant impact on total emissions and are among the more affordable climate initiatives in a socioeconomic perspective.

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