Since 2011, the City of Ostrava has been a member of the Covenant of Mayors, an international grouping of local and regional government bodies. Originally a European initiative, the Covenant has now grown into a global platform, whose signatories have voluntarily committed to reduce their cities’ negative impacts on our planet’s climate. The main goals involve reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In 2013 the City drew up its first Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP); the plan included an emissions inventory measured against baseline figures from 2010, and the City committed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20% in the period up to 2030.

The Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan

The Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) incorporates a set of projects whose overall goal is to reduce energy consumption and thus to achieve cost savings, reductions in environmental impacts, and reductions in CO2 emissions – while also implementing adaptation measures in response to ongoing climate change. The SECAP was drawn up in connection with the City’s strategy for managing the impacts and risks associated with climate change. Many of the projects contained in the previous SECAP have already been completed, and a range of new projects have been incorporated into the recently approved new Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan. The new proposals include measures related to public and municipal buildings, involving thermal insulation, energy-efficient lighting, and improvements to heating systems. A major contribution to greenhouse gas emissions will come from the shift away from coal as an energy source for Ostrava’s centralized heat distribution system; coal-fired boilers will be phased out completely by 2030. Changes will also affect transportation and traffic – including support for cycle transport and pedestrian infrastructure, the introduction of hydrogen-fuelled buses, the construction of a hydrogen filling station, and a range of other projects that will help the City achieve its new targets. A further contribution will be made by the use of renewable energy sources harnessed by the installation of solar panels on municipal buildings, as well as a number of adaptation measures to be implemented within the city. The local community will also play a hugely important role – e.g. in reconstructing houses and apartment blocks to maximize energy efficiency, modernizing household heating sources, and other activities.

A new commitment to cut CO2 emissions

On 16 February 2022, Ostrava’s City Assembly approved a new commitment to cut CO2 emissions by 55% during the period up to 2030; this commitment is in line with the vision set out in the City’s Strategic Development Plan 2017–2023, and it builds on the successes already achieved in fulfilling the City’s existing commitments. With this new target, Ostrava is joining a growing group of major cities whose focus on sustainable development is helping to address global problems – including climate change. The City has recently drawn up a new Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) for the period up to 2030, which takes into account not only existing or planned commitments but also the content of Ostrava’s strategy for managing the impacts and risks associated with climate change.

Progress and monitoring of CO2 emissions in Ostrava

The City carries out CO2 emissions monitoring across its entire territory, quantifying emissions at regular intervals to trace progress from the initial baseline (2000) via a series of monitoring reports (2005, 2010, 2015, 2020). The monitoring uses the standard methodology set out by the Covenant of Mayors, measuring the final consumption of fuel and energy in sectors that are incorporated into the SEAP/SECAP on the basis of their local relevance.

The CO2 inventory shows that the final consumption of fuel and energy by the monitored sectors within Ostrava has fallen by 37.9% between 2000 and 2020. The changes in these CO2 emissions since 2000, including the relative year-on-year reductions in CO2 production in the monitored sectors, are presented in the table below.

Changes in CO2 emissions in sectors included in the baseline emission inventory (BEI) in individual monitoring emission inventories (MEIs) (t/year)

Documents to download:

Complete monitoring report for the City of Ostrava’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) – MEI (Monitoring Emission Inventory) 2020

Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan – SECAP (2030)