The municipality of Zaanstad aspires to be a climate neutral city between 2030 and 2040. This means net zero emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by 2040 at the latest. In the Zaanse Climate Agreement (Zaanse Klimaatakkoord), the municipality presents the various measures and initiatives related to energy transition, circular economy and a healthy living environment in Zaanstad.
In 2021, CE Delft calculated the CO2 effects of the measures and initiatives in the Zaanse Climate Agreement 2.0. In autumn 2022, the Zaanse Climate Agreement 3.0 was published. The municipality has therefore asked CE Delft to update the 2021 calculations to include the most recent developments of both the existing measures and the new measures set out in the Zaanse Climate Agreement 3.0. The key question here is the following:
‘To what extent will the Zaanse goal of becoming climate neutral between 2030 and 2040 be achieved with the proposed policies and to what extent will the national 2050 target be met?’
We have selected 14 national developments and 13 Zaanse measures and initiatives that are sufficiently concrete to be calculated and/or will have a significant impact. The effect of these measures on emissions in 2030 is a reduction of about 30% compared to 2020. This rises to 53% by 2040 and 60% by 2050. This will therefore not achieve the goal of climate neutrality by 2040. Although the measures calculated do not include all measures and developments, there is nevertheless a large task remaining in order to meet the 2040 goal.