SECAP of Cēsis

	14.766 (2022)
	19,28 km2
	2000: 62.689t
	2030: 31.384t

Cēsis is a small town of 15, 000 inhabitants located in the north of Latvia. Surrounded by rural areas and natural parks, its economy is based mainly on food production, retail and small industries (manufacturing, transport). For now, the SECAP has been developed for the city of Cēsis, but at the end of 2022, work on developing the plan for the entire county has started.

Actions towards sustainable energy management

In 2016, the municipality of Cēsis County developed and approved its first Sustainable Energy Action Plan until 2020. Considering legislative changes and new goals set by the EU, this document has been revised, updated and supplemented with short-term, medium-term and long-term goals for 2022.

Accordingly to the SECAP, by 2030, the city of Cēsis will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared to 2000. Cēsis adopted the year 2000 as the base year;  the household and industrial sectors were the largest consumers of electricity and natural gas. Centralised heat supply prevailed in Cesis, fuel – natural gas (mainly) and biomass.

The renewable energy target of Cēsis City is to reduce Co2 emissions by 50% compared to the base year (2000) by 2030 and to ensure that Cēsis municipal institutions, residents and infrastructure can adapt and withstand the risks caused by climate change.

The Impact of local political commitment on sustainable development

In the year SECAP was developed (2022), CO2 emissions had decreased by 33%, which confirms that the energy efficiency measures taken so far have a high-efficiency ratio. The industrial sector has a significant decrease, incl. centralised heat supply. Residential building insulation programs have already yielded effective results in reducing CO2, which is formed from thermal energy savings, and the effects of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy resources, which are CO2 neutral. It is a result of successful political commitment and active action.

Mitigation and adaption

Climate mitigation and adaptation measures are focused on four groups: municipal infrastructure, housing, natural environment, transport and mobility. The municipality is firmly committed to integrating the climate aspect into the county`s planning documents.

Planned activities include improvement of wastewater management and successful rainwater management, development of blue-green infrastructure, improvement of early warning and forecasting system, use of materials and technologies that protect buildings from overheating, and other solutions.

„Climate change affects every citizen, affects the living environment and infrastructure. To reduce human impact and ensure safe and sustainable energy for the population, we have decided to focus more on mitigating climate change. Participation in the Covenant of Mayors will make it possible to strengthen the municipality’s ability to adapt to the inevitable impact of climate change and to draw knowledge from the most experienced member cities.” (Jānis Rozenbergs, Chairman of Cēsis County Council)

The SECAP was created by VPR and supported by CEESEU project.

The entire document is available on the link below in Romanian language.

SECAP – Cēsis, Latvia

The SECAP was implemented with the support of the CEESEU project. The CEESEU project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement GA: 892270. Disclaimer: The author of this content is solely responsible for its content, which does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union, and neither EASME nor the European Commission is responsible for any use that may be made of this content.