A number of processes are underway to reduce Oslo’s contribution to GHG emissions outside the city’s boundaries (indirect, consumption-based GHG emissions). Central to these is the municipality’s consumption strategy «Future consumption – strategy for sustainable and reduced consumption 2019-2030», which was adopted in 2019. The strategy sets out how the city’s inhabitants, the municipality’s entities and the business community can use more sustainable alternatives. Material consumption will be reduced by sharing, renting, borrowing, repairing, reusing, recycling and buying second hand.
The Agency for Urban Environment has drawn up a list of measures to promote sustainable and reduced consumption which have been incorporated into the City Government’s proposed budget for 2022. Funding schemes for projects and pilots have already been initiated to promote reuse amongst the municipal entities. The City of Oslo’s work relating to environmental management and certification is also an important tool in the efforts being made to reduce indirect emissions.
Indicators for consumption-based GHG emissions
During 2021, a set of indicators will be developed for sustainable and reduced consumption for the City of Oslo’s own operations and the Oslo community. Several of the municipal entities are involved in this project, which is an R&D partnership with three research organisations (OsloMet/SIFO, NORSUS and CICERO). The aim of the project is to develop indicators which illustrate consumption trends in Oslo, both amongst inhabitants and the municipal entities and within the business community. The Agency for Urban Environment has received funding from theKlimasatsgrant scheme to continue some of this work beyond 2021.
In order to analyse indirect GHG emissions from road transport, the project is using a consumer-based model as a starting point. This model is based on the number of kilometres driven per year by all types of vehicles registered in Oslo and journeys made by persons resident in the municipality. The preliminary findings show that journeys made by the inhabitants account for by far the largest contribution both to the number of vehicle kilometres driven and to indirect emissions, followed by transport within the business community. The results indicate a modest increase in travel amongst the City of Oslo’s own employees, while use of the municipality’s own vehicles has decreased somewhat. The number of vehicle-kilometres rose slightly for both Oslo residents and the business community in the municipality during the period 2017-2019. The results also indicate that the increase in the use of electric cars as a substitute for petrol and diesel cars, the transition to biofuels such as biogas and the increase in the use of public transport services resulted in a reduction in indirect emissions during the period.
In order to assess a trajectory towards more sustainable and reduced food consumption, the quantity of food purchased by the City of Oslo is being analysed as an indicator of food consumption. Preliminary findings indicate that the consumption of fish, chocolate and sugar/artificial sweeteners, edible oils and fats, grain and legume products and fresh vegetables rose significantly during the period 2017-2019. Meat consumption also increased slightly during the period, while the consumption of fresh fruit and frozen and canned vegetables fell. The preliminary calculations indicate that this resulted in a slight increase in total indirect emissions from food, while the weight of purchased food decreased. This suggests that more food with a higher indirect discharge per kilogram was purchased in 2019 compared with 2017.
Climate requirements in procurements
Targeted and systematic work relating to the imposition of climate requirements in procurements which impact on indirect emissions is a new and wide-ranging priority area. In 2018, AsplanViak analysed the climate footprint of the City of Oslo’s own operations with a focus on the joint procurement agreements dating from 2016. The analysis showed that the majority of the climate footprint from the municipality’s activities originates from the purchase of goods and services, and that the joint procurement agreements account for just under 10 % of the total climate footprint of the municipal entities. A number of processes have been initiated to reduce emissions resulting from the municipality’s procurements. The municipality has developed a guide for reduced and smarter use of plastic in procurements, along with a guide to the circular economy in procurements. The latter explains how the municipal entities can contribute to sustainable and reduced consumption through measures such as prioritising reuse, repair and upgrading over new purchases. The municipality is also aware that additional measures may be appropriate in order to reduce indirect emissions linked to transport under goods and services contracts, and will therefore consider the imposition of requirements across more of the transport chain. Indirect emissions from the municipality’s own vehicle and machinery fleet can be reduced if businesses share machinery and vehicles both internally and with each other, as well as through the procurement of sharing services where possible. The Agency for Improvement and Development is assessing this in more detail.
Targets for reduced emissions from construction materials
Emissions associated with the production and handling of construction materials are amongst the largest sources of emissions outside Oslo’s boundaries, both from the City of Oslo’s operations and from across the city as a whole. Reducing such emissions will be important in meeting the goal of the Climate Strategy that Oslo’s contributions to GHG emissions outside the municipality will be significantly lower in 2030 than in 2020, and «The City Government shall» point: «By 2021, we shall set a quantified target for reductions in consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions from municipal construction projects».
As mentioned previously, the City Government is now working to set an ambitious target to reduce GHG emissions from the use of materials by its own entities. This work is viewed in light of the goals of the C40’s Clean Construction Declaration, which the City of Oslo has endorsed. A digital tool will be developed for use in connection with life-cycle calculations in building and construction procurements. This will be important in the planning, comparison, follow-up and reporting of indirect emissions in building and construction projects. Standard specifications of requirements for purpose-built buildings will also be developed to meet strict climate and environmental requirements for the municipality’s buildings.
Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon
Through the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA), the City of Oslo is participating in the Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon project, which aims to develop a framework for cities seeking to reduce their consumption-based emissions within building and construction projects, infrastructure and urban development. The aim is to examine the instruments that cities or municipalities have at their disposal to influence indirect emissions from this sector, e.g. through requirements, administrative decisions and regulations. Through the project, the City of Oslo will receive feedback on which potential measures and instruments will be most effective in reducing these emissions.
Cities4Forests
The City of Oslo has endorsed the international “Call for Action on Forests and Climate” concerning the conservation of forests and sustainable forest management. The municipality is in dialogue with Cities4Forests regarding regulations concerning the purchase of timber from sustainable logging in order to avoid products which have caused tropical deforestation. Many measures under the auspices of Cities4Forests are being assessed.
Sustainable food
Food generates large quantities of indirect emissions. The City of Oslo aims to significantly reduce meat consumption in the municipality’s canteens and institutions, while at the same time facilitating a more plant-based diet. The key guidelines are set out in the City Government Declaration 2019-2023, the strategy for sustainable and reduced consumption 2019-2023 and the Climate Strategy for Oslo towards 2030. The City Government is working to halve food waste per capita by 2030. Meat consumption will be halved by 2023, and the proportion of fruit, vegetables, legumes and seasonal goods will be increased amongst municipal entities. The indicator project for reduced and sustainable consumption and consumption-based GHG emissions will provide important information about trends in food consumption in Oslo. The Agency for Improvement and Development, the Agency for Urban Environment and the Nursing Home Agency have all been allocated funding from the Klimasats grant scheme for work relating to sustainable food and the reduction of food waste. The Agency for Improvement and Development will be the municipality’s driving force, coordinator and facilitator in the efforts being made to promote healthy and sustainable food. One measure will be to establish a sharing platform for climate-friendly menus in the municipality. UKE will also work to ensure that the municipality’s joint procurement agreements support the City Government’s ambitions and goals in this area, as well as help other businesses within the municipality to use procurement strategically to reduce meat consumption and promote plant-based diets.
The work relating to sustainable food also forms part of the municipality’s work concerning urban agriculture, plastics and marine littering, as well as that relating to environmental management and Eco-Lighthouse certification within the municipality. The Agency for Urban Environment is contributing to guidance for use by municipal service centres in the transition to sustainable and healthy food with reduced food waste, partly through the Horizon2020 project FUSILLI: “Fostering the Urban Food System Transformation Through Innovative Living Labs Implementation”. Together with eleven other cities, the City of Oslo will look at solutions for sustainable food and establish a «living laboratory» to test solutions. The municipality is also participating in the C40 Food Systems Network, which has collectively created the «Good Food Cities Declaration».
