{"id":31260,"date":"2024-06-27T08:03:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T06:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swecobelgium.be\/blog\/participation-is-the-key-to-a-climate-neutral-leuven\/"},"modified":"2025-03-18T09:15:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T08:15:50","slug":"participation-is-the-key-to-a-climate-neutral-leuven","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.swecobelgium.be\/en\/news\/participation-is-the-key-to-a-climate-neutral-leuven\/","title":{"rendered":"Participation is the key to a climate-neutral Leuven"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As one of the 112 European mission cities, Leuven is striving for a climate-neutral status by 2030. To achieve this, it has developed a Climate Contract with 10 clear guidelines. What sets it apart is the engagement of various partners from the local Leuven ecosystem. Sweco has also signed the Climate Contract and is contributing its expertise to shape the ambitions.<\/strong><\/p>\nvisual of the Leuven 2030 Climate Neutral project, subproject marketplace as energy source. Illustration of the Leuven marketplace with a cross-section of the underground with energy ducts.\n

Globally, cities consume over half of all energy and account for 70% of CO2<\/sub> emissions [1]<\/sup><\/a>. In the European Union, about three-quarters of the population lives in cities, making them ideal for leading the transition to a sustainable society. That’s why Europe launched the mission ‘100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030’ in 2022: 112 cities are rising to the challenge of increasing their climate ambitions and efforts. They are paving the way and seeking solutions to overcome barriers, to demonstrate that it can be done.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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Sweco has signed the Climate Contract as a committed partner and is providing its expertise to make the transition a reality.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Miechel De Paep, specialist Climate Adaptation<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

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A clear and budgeted action plan<\/h2>\n

Leuven responded to the call and was selected in the spring of 2022 based on its existing knowledge, innovative initiatives in climate, economy, social policy, and its collaborative partnerships with knowledge institutions, businesses, and residents.<\/p>\n

The mission city label comes with three requirements from Europe:<\/p>\n