Hjørring Kommune has embarked on what it calls 'The Great Climate Journey' - an ambitious plan to reduce the municipality's CO2 emissions by 70 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. As part of the DK2020 climate partnership, the municipality commits to a concrete and realistic path towards climate neutrality, which must be approved by independent experts. The North Jutland landscape gives Hjørring Kommune some very particular conditions for climate work. On the one hand, the municipality faces one of the country's most challenging climate tasks, as agriculture alone accounts for three quarters of total CO2 emissions. By comparison, the energy sector contributes only 3 percent to the climate accounts. This means that Hjørring Kommune's climate battle is largely about finding solutions that work for the many farmers and food businesses that characterise the municipality's economic life. On the other hand, nature has dealt the municipality some strong cards. Hjørring Kommune today produces twice as much biogas as it consumes, distributed across seven different biogas plants. Grøn Gas Hjørring has since 2001 delivered climate-friendly energy equivalent to an annual CO2 reduction of approximately 6,000 tonnes. At the same time, there are major climate gains to be made in the municipality's many lowland areas - land that currently emits large quantities of CO2, but which through retirement from agricultural use can reverse the accounts and become CO2 stores instead. The most significant climate action is the retirement of lowland soils, where the Ilbro Enge project shows the way. Here, the municipality in partnership with landowners and LandboNord has converted 210 hectares of CO2-emitting lowland soils into a nature area. The plan is to expand this effort to a total of 2,000 hectares over the next 10-15 years, which alone could deliver an annual CO2 reduction of 54,000 tonnes. In parallel, the municipality is investing heavily in green transport with 100 new electric vehicles for the home care service and the new Hjørring Øst station, which will strengthen public transport. Nevertheless, the municipality honestly acknowledges that the path to a 70 percent reduction is steep and requires technological breakthroughs that are not yet in place. Particularly within agriculture, there is a need for new barn technologies, climate-friendly feed and more regenerative soil management. The transport sector is actually experiencing rising emissions, underscoring the need for rapid and significant changes in citizens' transport habits. The municipality's strategy is built on what it calls 'the climate tripartite agreement' between citizens, businesses and the municipality. In practice, this means public meetings about phasing out oil boilers, installation of more charging stations for electric vehicles and courses on climate gardens that can both withstand climate change's increased precipitation and store CO2. At the same time, the municipality enters partnerships with local businesses on circular solutions, such as when Vraa Dampvaskeri, IKEA Aalborg and Aalborg Universitet collaborate to give worn-out workwear new life as garden furniture.

Source: Hjørring Kommunes Klimahandlingsplan 2030 - Den Store Klimarejse (2030)