Impact of the CO2 Performance Ladder on municipalities

CE Delft has been commissioned by SKAO and VNG to study the CO₂ Performance Ladder for municipalities. The central question in this report is:

What are the quantitative and qualitative effects of implementing the CO₂ Performance Ladder for municipalities?

To answer this question, we conducted a desk study of the data of the eighteen municipalities that were certified on the CO₂ Performance Ladder in December 2021. Of these, we interviewed six municipalities.

This study showed that the most important effects of the CO₂ Performance Ladder for municipalities are:

• By certifying themselves to the CO₂ Performance Ladder, municipalities set targets for CO₂ reduction and adhere to these targets. All municipalities are on track to meet their targets.
• By being certified, municipalities gain insight into their CO₂ This makes them better placed to discuss achieving targets and identifying measures.
• The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle of the CO₂ Performance Ladder ensures a solid basis for CO₂ reduction targets and monitoring in the municipal organisation, so that CO₂ reduction remains a long-term concern.

It is highly likely that the Performance Ladder has a positive effect on CO₂ reduction by municipalities. On the basis of the available data, however, we cannot determine the extent to which the Performance Ladder contributes to the additional CO₂ reduction. Participation in the CO₂ Performance Ladder does require considerable effort from the municipalities. Some municipalities find complying with the Performance Ladder to be complex or the administrative burden to be high. In general, however, the municipalities feel that the CO₂ Performance Ladder has added value for their organisation. All the municipalities we spoke to therefore want to continue with the Performance Ladder and half of the interviewed municipalities want to advance to a higher level on the CO₂ Performance Ladder.