The City of Graz drew up a climate mitigation plan back in 2022, thereby launching a comprehensive process aimed at achieving its climate targets. The starting point for this is the “House of Graz” itself: the Graz city administration and all municipal companies are implementing a number of measures and encouraging more than 8,000 employees to work together towards the climate neutrality objective.
The process began by drawing up an initial climate balance sheet, which showed the specific areas in which CO2 emissions are generated in the city. Based on that the Graz Climate Protection Plan containing 400 detailed measures for the City of Graz was developed. The strategy is being applied on three levels: the City of Graz itself is leading the way by setting a good example and pursuing the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2030. The second level involves creating sustainable services, structures and framework conditions for climate-friendly living and business in Graz. Finally, the third level focuses on Graz-based companies’ own initiatives as well as the involvement and participation of citizens.
“We want to start decarbonisation with ourselves – at what we call the ‘House of Graz’ ,” explains the city’s climate protection officer Thomas Drage. “A lot has already been achieved here structurally: our climate team is growing continuously and the topic has been firmly integrated in all relevant areas of administration, such as construction, mobility, energy, procurement and urban planning. New employees in Graz learn about climate protection during onboarding and are involved in the participatory process.”
The “Klimalicht” showcase project
The “Klimalicht”1 (Climate light) project is testing climate-friendly lifestyles in a very concret. To this end, a total of 14 employees working for the city administration changed their daily routines entirely in the summer of 2024. Along with their families, they gave up meat, car journeys and air travel for one month, focusing instead on a healthy vegetarian diet and clean forms of mobility. All their journeys were made on foot, by bicycle or using public transport. They then shared their experiences with their colleagues and discussed tips for climate-friendly behaviour. The result: they were able to reduce their carbon footprint by up to 80 per cent. The “Klimalicht project” has also attracted a lot of attention beyond Graz and is currently being implemented for a second time.
Photovoltaic Master Plan
In the field of energy, the City of Graz is focusing on renovating buildings, using photovoltaics for own electricity generation and switching to alternative fuel vehicles. The PV master plan2 laid the foundations for the large-scale construction of municipal PV systems. The plan envisages total investment costs of around EUR 34 million in the first implementation package between 2024 and 2026 and identifies around 50 rooftop sites, two open spaces and a large-scale facility at Graz Airport. This first expansion package (26.5 MW) enables coverage of around one third of the House of Graz’s projected total electricity demand of around 79 GWh/a. This will result in savings of approx. 5,700 tonnes of CO2 emissions, equating to a 12 per cent reduction in CO2.3
Attractive mobility options and more green Spaces
Enhancing the appeal of sustainable forms of mobility is an important lever in achieving the objective of climate neutrality in Graz by 2040. Numerous measures are therefore being implemented aimed at mobility transformation, including continuous expansion of the public transport network, extension of the cycle path network as part of the Graz cycling initiative and designs for a number of attractive new footpaths. The city is also focusing strongly on urban greening projects and the planning and implementation of additional green spaces, parks and water areas.
The Climate Pact: taking responsibility
The “Klima-Pakt#bindabei” (Climate Pact) was launched in Graz in 2024 to join forces in Graz. All business people, organisations, associations, companies and stakeholders as well as private citizens were invited to take active responsibility for the objective of climate neutrality by 2040. The pact includes a clear commitment on the part of individuals and organisations to see themselves as part of the solution, to reduce emissions within their own sphere of influence and to encourage others to do the same. By October 2025, 94 companies have already signed the Climate Pact. This will make it possible to reach a total of 50,000 employees on the topic of climate protection. “Companies such as Siemens and Andritz, as well as other major employers such as hospitals and universities, are taking part in the Climate Pact”, reports Thomas Drage. “But the pact has also already been signed by lots of one-person businesses and around 500 private citizens. These are important ambassadors who actively discuss the topic within their communities and on social media.”
Exchanges with other Pioneering cities
The City of Graz is using its participation in the “Climate-neutral City” mission to rapidly drive forward its measures towards climate neutrality, to link up with other Pioneering cities and to benefit from exchanging experiences. Many of the insights gained in Graz have already been successfully presented and passed on to others.
“A lively exchange of ideas takes place as part of the support process”, explains Doris Wiederwald from the Graz Department for Climate Protection and Funding Projects. “We are able to discuss our experiences in the many topic-based focus groups as well as take away important findings. We presented the Graz Climate Pact for instance within this framework and also exchanged expertise on the topics of carbon accounting and green budgeting. The partnership has resulted in a very dynamic environment where experts from the Pioneering cities work together constructively on equal terms and share their knowledge.”
klimaneutralestadt.at/en/projects/pioneer-cities/climate-pioneer-city-graz.php
1 stadtgraz.buzzsprout.com/2116889/episodes/15261585-projekt-klimalicht-ein-monat-fleisch-und-autofrei-leben
2 www.holding-graz.at/de/photovoltaik-masterplan-fuer-das-haus-graz/
3 as at March 2025
