Ducky, Tietoevry and Asplan Viak have developed a Climate Map Tool for municipalities providing them with insights into and the opportunity to reduce their consumption-based emissions, together with businesses and citizens.
The map visualizes the average footprint per inhabitant in an area. The figures are based on statistics from the public register and high-quality climate data provided in collaboration with Asplan Viak, and from the consumption of energy, food, transport, goods and services, and the public sector.
The footprint is automatically updated when new data becomes available.
«The lack of good data has made working towards lowering emissions difficult. Statistics are usually national and hard to break down and understand on a local, municipal level», explains Climate Advisor in Asker Kommune, Bente Støa, adding:
«It's difficult to know whether measures we implement have a real effect on reducing emissions. And I know that municipalities are struggling with this.»
Want to measure indirect and direct emissions
With her colleague Bjørn Nordby, she is about to put the final touches on the climate plan for Asker Municipality.
«The first generation of municipal climate plans mostly focused only on the municipality's activities. In recent years, they have had a much more holistic approach where they want to measure all emissions, direct and indirect», says Bjørn Nordby.
In addition to finalizing the climate plan, both Bente and Bjørn are responsible for a number of environmental projects in the municipality. From facilitating more cycling to exchanging old oil tanks. It all falls under their responsibility.
Data Is The Most Important Tool
The two climate advisors in Asker Municipality are clear on the fact that the most important tool for emission reduction in a municipality is data. Up until this point, this data has been hard to find, but now Bente and Bjørn are seeing a golden opportunity.
Zero Emission Citizen, received 12 millions NOK in support from The Norwegian Research Council in the summer 2020. Ducky has already developed their own climate calculator. The tool will gain more and more granular climate date from public registers, citizen's own bank transactions, data from the energy- and food business as well as citizen's own information.
«We are excited to see what's coming. Better and more precise climate data, will allow us to cut emissions quicker», says Bente.
UN Sustainable Development Goal 12
This climate data are visible in a map for all municipalities and regions.
«The goal is to create a tool that measures the fulfillment of UN Sustainability Goal 12 - Sustainable Consumption. Today, there's no good methods to measure this», says co-founder and concept developer Mads Simonsen.
«As citizens we are already sharing a lot of data through various bonus schemes and memberships in customer clubs. Our citizen survey showed that most of us want to live more climate-friendly. Therefore, we believe that many will be motivated to share climate data, so their municipality can cut tons of CO2e and prevent the climate crisis», says Bjørn.
Looking For More Municipalities
Kim Remvik-Larsen is responsible for the project from TietoEVRY's side. He is happy that Asker Municipality has teamed up with Trondheim Municipality, Stjørdal Municipality, Viken Municipality, Vestland Municipality, Innlandet Municipality, Fjordkraft and Matvett.
«We are looking for more municipalities that can join and help develop the tool with us. The more data we have, the better climate data will be given to municipalities to predict and target climate measures», says Kim.
He emphasizes that the more municipalities that join, the greater the gain. Precisely because the data complement each other in such a way that larger quantities give a clearer picture.
Green Choices To The People
Bente and Bjørn are hoping that the tool will emphasize everyday «climate tips», so that citizens can go in and receive tailored advice. Their citizen survey shows that this is a popular service.
«We have to make people capable of choosing green. Whether you choose to cycle to work once a week or reducing your food waste, you will immediately see the reduction in your carbon footprint. I think that would motivate a lot of people», says Bente.
Zero Emission Citizen (Ducky Footprints) is developed in collaboration with our trusted partners, with the help of pioneer municipalities, such as Asker Municipality, and with support from the Norwegian Research Council.
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