BOLZANO. South Tyrol wants to be climate neutral by 2040. This requires the collaboration of the municipalities, which must set decarbonisation by 2025. By 2027 they will have to submit theirs Climate plans in line with the Province’s guidelines. The Province and the Consortium of Municipalities of Alto Adige have agreed on common guidelines to harmonize the climate plans of the Municipalities with the Climate Plan of the Province.
“This joint commitment should help ensure that the Province and Municipalities work in unison to achieve climate objectives and promote sustainable solutions,” said the President of the Province Arno Kompatscher.
San Genesio today presented the general lines of its climate plan. The Municipality has been working on this issue in a structured way since 2013. “We take the issue of climate protection very seriously, we have already approved our Climate Plan in 2022 and, above all, we want to involve the population”, underlined the mayor Paul Romen. Important topics are water, solar energy and mobility, in particular the cable car connection between Bolzano and San Genesio, summarized Romen.
The Municipality started with energy accounting, i.e. recording the water and energy consumption of public buildings, he explained Monika Mairenvironmental manager of the Municipality. To structure the numerous projects, such as the research grant in the nursery school, the climate school, the green events organized by the associations, the climate days in the artisan area, the flea markets and local shopping with a points collection system or the “commuter of the year” campaign, etc. The first part shows the current situation, for example how many cars travel in Bolzano, Mair explained.
Part two is a catalog of measures that can be taken to obtain better values, for example the use of a cable car for more sustainable mobility. “The third part concerns adaptation to climate change and, in view of drought and water scarcity, a irrigation pipeline from Val Sarentinorich in water, for agriculture,” Mair said.
The Province financially supports the development of the Municipalities’ climate plans, up to 80% of the approved costs. The Plans must meet requirements: for example, they must increase the energy efficiency of public buildings and reduce CO₂ emissions. The goal is also to use more renewable energy and reduce light pollution.
Municipalities can also contribute indirectly to all action fields of the state climate plan through awareness-raising measures or campaigns, for example through mobility concepts, green spaces and parking, safe bicycle parking, cycle paths or car sharing solutions.
2024-09-28 17:21:42