Climate Agreement
The City of Reykjavík has been selected to be part of a European project along with more than 100 other cities to become carbon neutral by 2030. As part of the project, the City of Reykjavík is making a climate agreement with different groups in Icelandic society to figure out how to reach this goal together.
Collaboration
The Reykjavík Climate Agreement is a partnership between the City and various sectors of society to decide what actions need to be taken to become carbon neutral by 2030. This includes the government of Iceland, other municipalities, schools, private businesses, non-profit organizations, and residents of Reykjavík. Everyone needs to work together to identify the challenges, prioritize them, and work quickly to achieve carbon neutrality.
Transportation is the main issue
In order to meet the goal, the amount of greenhouse gases must be reduced quickly and the carbon that can't be reduced must be stored safely. The biggest source of greenhouse gases in Reykjavík is from cars on the road. So, we need to find ways to reduce the number of car trips.
Innovation and research
The idea is for the 112 European cities in the project to become leaders in innovation and research, so that other European cities can follow their example and become carbon neutral by 2050. Iceland signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 with the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C. To do this, the entire world must become carbon neutral by 2050.
Consultation
The City of Reykjavík is getting expert advice from the international organization NetZeroCities. They are working with the European Commission and other organizations like Climate-KIC, Eurocities, and ICLEI to manage the project.