‘KIS-Graz’ Climate Innovation City Graz (Klima-Innovations-Stadt Graz) has initiated a comprehensive cultural change to the consequences of global warming and climate change that have reached the cities. KIS-Graz is a climate policy project, which addresses the two major areas of climate policy:
- Climate change mitigation – reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
- Climate change adaptation – making the changes that are taking place bearable without increasing GHG emissions (keyword: air conditioning)
With our project we aim to contribute to meeting the global 2° target. To achieve the change, a climate protection fund with € 60 million in funding, an advisory board for climate protection and a climate change mitigation officer were installed. In this way, the city’s activities are made climate-neutral step by step, and all Graz residents are invited to join in.
A climate protection plan is currently being drawn up for the whole of Graz, in which the ‘Haus Graz’ will set a good example. An 80 per cent reduction was decided in the city’s highest-ranking planning instrument, the urban development concept 4.0 (page 10). KIS-Graz wants to make a fair contribution to the global 2°C target. For this, the Wegener Centre calculated a necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions: 5.6 per cent per year. This corresponds to a reduction of 90 per cent by 2050 compared to 2016.
A comprehensive mix of the available political instruments is used for:
- increasing awareness;
- subsidies and financing;
- regulatory policy.
The KIS-Graz approach is new and creative at the same time, with the following:
- the appointment of a climate change mitigation officer;
- the endowment of a climate protection fund with € 60 million;
- the establishment of a climate change advisory board;
- the coordination of all urban climate protection activities, across all departments and the city-owned companies;
- the involvement of all stakeholders.
This is the ‘KIS-Graz’ way to implement a large number of measures and activities to establish a real climate-culture change.