December 10, 2025
For over a decade, Uppsala Municipality has been working systematically and strategically on the municipality's climate transition and has set targets for climate neutrality by 2030 and climate positivity by 2050 at the latest. The work is guided by the Goals and Budget and the Environment and Climate Program, both of which are decided by the municipal council.
Over the past year, we have developed a climate budget that is now being incorporated into the municipality's regular governance.
The environmental and climate program provides us with clear goals and direction in our work. This spring, the municipal council adopted an updated environmental and climate program. Among the updates are three new milestone goals. Two of the new milestone goals concern climate adaptation to cope with current and future climate change. The first focuses on reducing the risk of flooding and negative societal effects in the event of flooding caused by heavy rainfall or high water levels in watercourses. The second aims to increase tree cover in urban areas to 30 percent. Planting more trees in the built environment is important from several perspectives, as they contribute to shade, water retention, biodiversity, and better air quality. The third new milestone concerns electricity output and capacity shortages, which are key issues for the development of Uppsala in the future.
In the coming years, we will continue to focus on energy and power efficiency and increasing the proportion of renewable electricity through solar cells on municipal roofs. We will reduce emissions when we build, for example through reuse and strict climate requirements in new buildings on designated sites. Transport is also crucial to achieving our goals. New mobility solutions, such as the upcoming tramway, are important for our residents to be able to travel more sustainably. Within the municipal organization, our passenger cars have been fossil-free for several years. Approximately 80 percent of the municipality's own work machines and heavy vehicles can be run fossil-free. The goal is 100 percent in the coming years, including procured transport and work machines. A major but important challenge is that the proportion of fossil-based plastic in residual waste needs to be significantly reduced. This is important in order to reduce emissions from the district heating plant in the municipality, which partly uses residual waste as fuel.
In the city's latest update, they talk about the work, the transition arena, the project portfolio and much more.
Maria Thomten, Process Manager for Climate Neutral Uppsala 2030, maria.thomten@uppsala.se
Through simple technical solutions and behavioral changes, the energy peaks in the commercial kitchens in Uppsala are drastically reduced. The result is both lower overall energy demand and reduced energy costs.
A climate framework for construction
In order to achieve the municipality's climate goals, greenhouse gas emissions within Uppsala's municipal boundaries need to be reduced by 10–14 percent per year. For the goals to be met, the climate impact of construction projects needs to be reduced at a corresponding rate. We have developed a climate framework that outlines the climate and energy requirements that apply generally to land allocation projects.
When planning a new construction project, an annual limit value for the construction phase is used for maximum emissions per square meter, which the construction company must adhere to. The construction company must also report on the climate compensation measures taken within the project with regard to carbon sequestration, net energy exports, and/or other measures.
To ensure resource efficiency, the construction contractor shall describe how the building is adaptable, flexible, and demountable, and ensure that new buildings constructed have good conditions for minimal climate impact and energy consumption during the operational phase.
Follow-up and reporting take place on an ongoing basis upon completion of buildings. Preliminary climate calculations are reported in connection with building permit applications, and final climate calculations are reported in connection with final decisions.
Reuse of building materials
In the Ulleråker district, buildings covering around 11,000 square meters have been carefully dismantled, and the materials are being given a new lease of life in other projects. The buildings have been dismantled with the vision of enabling 100 percent reuse of the usable materials that are released. This includes everything from the frame and load-bearing structure to details such as skirting boards, wall sockets, fixtures, radiators, and interior walls.
The building materials dismantled in Ulleråker are stored and will then be reused and sold both internally within the municipal organization and externally to construction companies in the municipality of Uppsala. One example is that the municipal company Uppsalahem is using materials to build an environmental cabin in a new student housing area in Kåbo.
The work has led to new methods for creating an efficient process, which in the long run can mean reduced costs. It has also led to a greater understanding of the circular economy, what drives costs, what risks exist, and which steps can be time-consuming or costly.
Sustainable renovation
The municipality's housing company Uppsalahem has tested various methods for increasing reuse in its large ongoing renovation project in the Gottsunda district. Several of the tests have now been scaled up and become permanent solutions in the company's regular work. Here are some examples of how we have worked with reuse in Gottsunda:
Tools for monitoring emissions from construction projects
Uppsala Municipality's GIS-based mapping tool , "Visualizations of carbon budgets in urban development projects," makesit possible to view and monitor the carbon budget allocated to individual properties and the actual outcome of that budget. The tool provides an overview of the climate impact of individual projects and properties. It is also possible to compare different projects with each other.
The tool facilitates the planning and monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions and is an important part of the work towards a climate-neutral Uppsala by 2030. It is built on Uppsala Municipality's GIS platform and places great emphasis on automation, flexibility, and high data quality.
Lime pellets
When purifying drinking water in Uppsala, lime pellets are formed – small balls with a core of sand and a shell of lime. This residual product has previously been used to reduce acidification in lakes and waterways, but has mainly been left unused in landfills. This is despite the fact that it has several possible uses.
The municipal company Uppsala Vatten and SLU have investigated how lime pellets can be utilized as a resource in agriculture, for example, to improve soil structure, raise pH levels, and return lime to the soil. Reclassifying lime pellets from waste to by-product creates new value:
Instead of ending up in a pile, lime pellets can now be put to good use – locally, nationally, and in the long term.
The ice warms up
Cooling the bandy ice rink at the Studenternas sports arena generates a lot of heat. In the past, this heat was released into the Fyris River. Now, the energy is instead used to keep the soccer field free of snow and to supply the entire Studenternas arena with both hot water and heating.
Since the new cooling plant was built at Studenternas in 2021, virtually all surplus heat from the cooling plant, approximately 1,600 MWh per year, is reused to heat the buildings, hot water, and soccer field at Studenternas.
New tool for climate-smart art decisions
Uppsala Municipality and Tyréns have launched a new calculation tool that will help reduce the climate footprint of art projects. It gives artists the opportunity to make climate-smart choices as early as the sketch phase, while maintaining their artistic freedom. The tool is now being shared freely throughout the art world. For public art, climate-smart choices of materials, transport, manufacturing, construction, and management are important.
Mobility houses in the Rosendal and Ulleråker neighborhoods
A mobility hub is a building that can be used for car parking, but also as a place for services such as bike rentals, carpooling, and parcel and goods delivery.
The first things to be built in new neighborhoods are usually housing and retail premises, which provide shelter and income for real estate companies. In Ulleråker, where 6,000 new homes, shops, schools, and preschools are to be built by 2035, the municipality is instead starting with a so-called mobility house, which, in addition to car parking, will include services to promote climate-friendly travel. The first mobility house is scheduled for completion in 2026.
There are two mobility buildings in northern Rosendal: Dansmästaren and Brandmästaren. Dansmästaren was built first and has space for 450 cars, including 60 charging stations for electric cars. The building also has 133 student apartments and a grocery store on the ground floor. In addition to the building's many rental spaces, there is a large section for short-term parking, with the option to purchase weekly tickets, as well as a carpool that is open to anyone who wants to join. In close collaboration with STUNS Energi and Uppsala University, Dansmästaren serves as a test and research station for the practical application of smart energy technology. There is a solar cell facility on the roof, and with the help of battery storage, the self-produced energy can be used to relieve the electricity grid when many cars are being charged at the same time.
What does the technical infrastructure look like in a climate-positive neighborhood?
Uppsala Municipality has investigated what the development of the energy system and other technical supplies needs to look like in a climate-positive district. The area that has been investigated is the south-eastern districts of Uppsala, which by 2050 will be developed with 21,500 homes, a new train station, and a business area. The conclusions are that it is possible to achieve a resource-efficient and climate-neutral energy system in the area. There is also a possibility that the energy system could become climate-positive, mainly through the design of the heating system.
Some proposed energy solutions include a local microgrid that enables electricity sharing between properties and a low-temperature district heating network that utilises waste heat from the business area. Smart control at the district level can be used to reduce power peaks and optimise resource use. The buildings would also need to be constructed using materials with a low climate impact that can also function as carbon sinks.
Uppsala highlights additional actions that they believe may be of particular interest to other municipalities to spy and apply. Contact the process leader to spy and apply.
Football pitches can become pools during heavy rainfall. Most football pitches are arched to allow rainwater to run off them. The new artificial grass pitch at Fålhagens IP is the opposite - it is lowered half a meter to be able to be a flood surface in case of torrential rain.
The municipality plants hundreds of new trees every year. There are currently more than 28,000 trees growing in public spaces in the municipality. Uppsala municipality plants around 500 new trees every year and is developing an improved tree database to increase the number of trees in Uppsala.
Municipality shares knowledge on climate adaptation. Uppsala municipality has produced maps and reports on various risks that may arise due to climate change, to support property owners and building operators.
Climate City Contract 2030 is a collective effort to achieve the climate transition that we need to implement in a short time to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. It is an agreement between municipalities, government agencies and Viable Cities where all parties undertake to make a concrete contribution to increasing the pace of climate change.
To achieve deep change, we need to move from fragmented projects to an ecosystem of efforts that all pull in the same direction. Cities are doing this together with Viable Cities, funders government agencies and other partners, in different constellations and with different objectives. It is about moving beyond dealing with symptoms and instead focusing on underlying problems in our social structure. Here you will find the initiatives and studies within the city that have been granted funding under Viable Cities.
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