Since 1993, the City of Essen has been a member of the Climate Alliance e.V., implementing numerous projects and pursuing concrete climate protection goals.
The overarching climate protection goal of the city of Essen is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest.
In order to meet the high priority for the topic of climate protection, the Essen City Council has commissioned the city administration to present a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) , as a further development of the Integrated Energy and Climate Concept (IEKK of 2009), by summer 2021. The SECAP describes the strategic approach to climate protection and adaptation to climate change after 2020 with concrete recommendations for action and measures until 2030. The essential steps for action and the resource requirements until climate neutrality by 2050 at the latest are presented. Of central importance are the topics of energy-efficient refurbishment of old buildings, energy-efficient use of electricity, the expansion of renewable energies and sustainable mobility. Another decisive factor is smart sector coupling, which enables the development of climate-neutral neighbourhood solutions. The expansion of renewable energies will be a particular focus of the SECAP. The areas of consumption and nutrition as well as CO2 compensation and storage will be included as new topics.