Prague Makes Further Steps Towards Sustainable Development

This year, among other things, one of the world's biggest topics is climate change. The forecasts are not very attractive and the threat needs to be addressed globally.

That is  the reason why the Cities Race to Zero initiative was created with a goal to reduce the amount of emissions of individual member cities by half. The Czech capital – Prague – also joined the initiative.

Prague's commitment is clear: it must halve its emissions by 2030. In the spring of 2021, the Prague City Council approved the 2030 Climate Plan of the City of Prague, which is supposed to significantly help in this effort. The same goal have other 720 cities around the world, which have also joined the initiative. The capital of the Czech Republic also had its representatives attending the UN Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, where the fight against the climate change was discussed.

"This year, Prague was represented at the UN climate conference for the first time, and it intends to establish international cooperation following this participation. Among the cities represented, we intend to find like-minded partners with whom we can be of mutual inspiration. This is another essential step in the implementation of the Climate Plan, of which some projects are already being implemented. We started with the construction of the Prague solar power plant by installing solar panels on Prague roofs. In the future, it should serve as the basic platform of urban community energy resources," says Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague Petr Hlubuček on the participation in the international initiative.

The Cities Race to Zero initiative was not created by chance. It is exactly the cities that are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. In terms of emissions, this accounts for up to 70% of these undesirable products. Halving emissions is thus extremely important in order to achieve the Earth's global warming target below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Prague has thus joined the grouping in which it combines its interests with New York, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and other world cities.  

The Czech capital has been committed to sustainability for a long time and actively connects the individual sustainable plans of the city. Following the above-mentioned Climate Plan, including circular economy projects, the Circular Prague 2030 Strategy was also created. Prague shared it until November 16, 2021 with the public, who could express their comments. The strategy comes in a total of seven thematic objectives with proposals for 73 actions and 34 specific projects. It focuses on construction, waste management, water management, agriculture and food production.