The Integrated Action Program for Climate Protection in Munich (IHKM)

The Integrated Action Program for Climate Protection in Munich (IHKM) Current developments in our global climate clearly show that there is now way around fast and efficient climate protection any more: politicians and climate experts largely agree that the rise in average temperatures caused by anthropogenic influences must be limited to 2° C, in order to reduce the resulting risks for the world’s population and to limit the scope of consequential damages. In order for that to be achieved, a significant reduction of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions is paramount. This especially calls for the commitment of big cities and metropolises because that’s where the bulk of greenhouse gases is emitted. At the same time, these cities have the best chances of finding a way to reduce CO2 emissions sustainably.

Following a basic decision of its City Council on December 17, 2008, the City of Munich has adopted the climate protection targets defined by the European local network Klimabündnis e.V. These targets are: a reduction in carbon emissions by 10% every 5 years and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions per capita compared to the reference year 1990 to be achieved by 2030. The latter corresponds to carbon emissions decreasing to 3.15 tons per inhabitantper year. The same Council decision charged the City administration with developing an“Integrated Action Program for Climate Protection in Munich“ [abbreviation IHKM following theGerman title “Integriertes Handlungsprogramm Klimaschutz für München“] to make sure that the climate protection targets set for Munich are met.

In Munich, several City Departments have responsibilities with respect to climate protection.The basic decision on the IHKM program lead to the creation of an interdepartmental management of the City’s climate protection measures. The objective is to increase the efficiency of measures taken and to make better use of the resulting synergies. The Department of Health and the Environment (DHE) is responsible for developing the IHKM program in close cooperation with all other City Departments and Offices. To that end, the DHE pools the climate protection measures and strategies developed by interdepartmental working groups. The first package of measures developed in the framework of the IHKM program – the “Climate Protection Program 2010“ includes measures for the period of 2010-2012 and was submitted to the City Council for resolution in May 2010. The IHKM program is to be renewed every two years.

The IHKM program is based an expert opinion of the Öko-Institut entitled “Local Strategies for Reducing Carbon Emissions by 50%, using the example of the City of Munich“ published in 2004. In total, the expert opinion defines around 40 different fields of activity which can be influenced by the City in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it also quantifies the possible reductions.

Contents of the IHKM – the Climate Protection Program 2010

The IHKM working groups elaborated a total of 200 operational and strategic measures forclimate protection. 55 of these measures were chosen for the Climate Protection Program2010. The operational part (50 measures) includes all activities resulting in a quantifiable CO2reduction effect or – event though not quantifiable – at least have an indirect effect (e.g. public relations measures). The operational measures can be grouped into 14 subject categories:

The strategic part of the Climate Protection Program 2010 includes five measures which are the indispensable basis for developing further operational measures, even though their own carbon reduction effect cannot be quantified (e.g. entrenching climate protection in urban land-use planning, planning principles for settlement development and energy supply). The climate protection measures chosen were taken down and described according to astandardized evaluation system in a measures sheet specially developed for this purpose. If possible, the corresponding CO2 reductions, the cost per ton of CO2 not emitted and qualitative criteria like the practicability and effectiveness were taken down for each measure.

Overall Effectiveness of the Climate Protection Program 2010

In principle, one has to be aware of the fact that a city administration, city-owned companies and the subsidies provided by the city can only influence part of the carbon emissions caused by all sectors of the industry in the municipal area. However, we can assume that the measures taken do have a high impact on other players if the city administration leads by example. In addition, comprehensive consulting services offered by the city can encourage private businesses and individuals to invest in climate protection measures themselves. This has been the successful concept of the City of Munich’s municipal construction center, a consulting and event center for anything that has to do with energy-efficient construction and refurbishment and the integration of renewables in existing and new buildings, for years. Naturally, the effectiveness of such consulting services can only be measured indirectly.

The expert opinion published by the Öko-Institut in 2004 assumes that the City of Munich can reduce carbon emissions by around 11% in the period from 1990-2030 with the means available at the time of publication. The measures included in the Climate Protection Program 2010 can add another 6% reduction in greenhouse gases to that initial value. The CO2 reduction target set by Munich’s City Council (a 10% reduction in emissions every 5 years and a 50% reduction in emissions compared to the base year of 1990 by 2030) can only be achieved if the Climate Protection Strategy described above is consistently pursued even beyond 2013.

The additional reduction potential identified in cooperation with the FfE amounts to approximately 540,000 t/a so far, the majority of which can be realized in a few fields. These primarily include the further development of energy generation with renewables pursued by the utility company SWM GmbH, especially through offshore wind farms in the North Sea and large solar power plants in Southern Spain (456,000 t/a). Other great potentials for reducing emissions lie in the increasing usage of deep geothermal energy for heat and powergeneration (32,000 t/a), the changeover of the district heating system from steam to hot water (37,500 t/a), in stepping up the existing energy conservation incentive programs for private building owners (especially for thermal insulation and solar thermal systems) from 10 to 14million Euros per year (14,000 t/a), intensified climate protection measures of municipal housing associations in renovation and the construction of new buildings (6,000 t/a), the promotion of bicycle traffic through an increase of the modal share from 14 to 17% (5,000 t/a) and an increase in energy efficiency of city-owned buildings (around 4,000 t/a).

For the apartments of the municipal housing associations, the City of Munich aims at an nannual primary energy requirement of 60 kWh/m² for refurbished existing buildings and 40kWh/m² for new buildings. In some cases, passive houses will be built. These energy standards, which will continuously be implemented according to further developments in the German energy saving regulation, can be considered a compromise between Munich’s incredibly high accumulated demand for affordable housing on the one hand and the challenges of climate protection on the other hand. In municipal building construction projects (schools, kindergartens, etc.) the City aims at fulfilling standards 35% above those defined inthe German energy saving regulation of 2009, both for refurbishments and new buildings. Some particular cases of municipal building construction will be completed according to passive house standards as well.