Climate goals for Umeå

Climate change is among the most critical challenges of our time, not least in Umeå, with Northern Sweden predicted to see higher than average warming and climate impacts. Significant emissions reductions are needed to limit global temperature rise to max 2 degrees and ideally no higher than 1.5 degrees in line with the Paris Agreement.

This requires ambitious action, and at the local level, all who live and work in Umeå have an important role to play in reducing our climate emissions. Transportation emissions as well as consumption-based emissions in Umeå have particularly high potential for reduction and as such are important focus areas.

In order to realize Umeå’s fair share of the Paris Agreement, enable sustainable growth, and ensure a good life for all within planetary boundaries, the City of Umeå has committed to achieving:

• Climate neutral municipal operations (including publicly owned companies) by 2025, i.e. have net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
• A climate neutral city by 2030, and a climate neutral municipality as a whole by 2040, i.e. have net zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
• A reduction of Umeå's consumption-based climate emissions to 2 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per person by 2040 and 1 tonne by 2050.
• Significant reductions of transportation related emissions in Umeå, to be achieved by:
  Increasing the proportion of trips made by public transport, bicycle or on foot within Umeå’s urban area to at least 65 percent
  Transitioning Umeå’s transport sector to fossil free fuels by 2030
  

As the city is both responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions and has a greater range of opportunities for achieving emissions reductions, the climate goals place greater responsibility on the city to lead in the transition to climate neutrality by 2030. The remainder of the municipality then follows, achieving climate neutrality by 2040.