Climate Action Plan

The Climate Action Plan was developed in collaboration with target GmbH through a participatory process spanning approximately one and a half years. The Advisory Board for Climate Protection and Sustainable Development actively supported the process of developing the relevant measures. Together with many other relevant municipal stakeholders, such as the Stadtwerke Jena Group, measures were jointly developed during various working group meetings and thematic workshops to guide Jena toward climate neutrality by 2035.

In addition, an online idea map was used to give all citizens of Jena the opportunity to submit suggestions for the Climate Action Plan even during the development process. For three months, interested individuals could submit their ideas, as well as propose and evaluate measures. The submitted proposals can be found on the online idea map.

The Jena City Council finally approved the final plan at its meeting on April 19, 2023, and passed the resolution “Climate Action Plan: Jena Climate-Neutral by 2035.” At the same time, the city administration was tasked with implementing the plan.

In the so-called climate neutrality scenario, the Climate Action Plan outlines how many greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced in various sectors.

Buildings and Neighborhoods

In the buildings and neighborhoods sector, electricity consumption must be reduced by 15% by 2035 through increased efficiency and sufficiency. To achieve this goal, 2% of the building stock would need to be retrofitted to an average level of renovation corresponding to the KfW 55 standard. At the same time, 70% of single-family homes must be heated with heat pumps, and 70–80% of multi-family homes must be supplied with district heating in order to meet the sector’s target.

Businesses

In the business sector—that is, commerce, trade, and services (GHD)—electricity consumption must also be reduced by 15%. To achieve this, 2% of the building stock would need to be retrofitted to an average level of renovation corresponding to the KfW 55 standard. In addition, 60% of the GHD sector’s heat supply must come from district heating.

City Administration

City government buildings must also achieve electricity savings of 15%. The goal is to renovate 3% of the building stock annually, with an average renovation depth in accordance with the KfW 55 standard. By 2035, the heat supply must be provided exclusively through district heating or other renewable energy sources.

Mobility

One-third of Jena’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the mobility sector. The mileage of passenger car traffic must be reduced by 30%, which corresponds to a reduction in the share of motorized private transportation in the modal split from the current 35% to 20%. The share of local public transit in the modal split must increase to 22% by 2035, and the entire local public transit system must be powered by electricity or alternative propulsion systems in order to achieve the sectoral target.

Energy Supply

However, the energy supply sector plays a crucial role. By 2035, 85% of district heating must be generated using renewable energy or hydrogen, and by 2040, 85% must be generated using thermal energy from the Saale River. Furthermore, one goal is for 100% of the electricity consumed in Jena to be generated from renewable energy sources.

To implement the climate neutrality scenario, 73 measures across the defined topic areas were developed and compiled into a catalog of measures. The catalog of measures does not aim to list the multitude of small-scale individual measures. Instead, all measures identified during the participatory process were reviewed for relevance and grouped into packages of measures.

Categories of Measures

The measures are classified into three categories.

• Immediate measures are to be treated as a priority in terms of timing, if possible by the end of 2024.

• Key measures are of particular importance because their impact and/or GHG reduction potential is especially significant. They are characterized by the fact that several individual measures are grouped together organizationally. However, unlike the immediate measures, their implementation requires a longer lead time.

• Other measures are defined as supporting measures. These are equally important for achieving the goals but have a lesser impact on GHG reduction potential and primarily serve to support the key measures or aim to support the Climate Action Plan through communication, information sharing, and networking.

Under “Downloads,” you will find the catalog of measures as well as the status of their implementation (measure monitoring) as of October 30, 2025.