Warsaw has joined the Green Cities framework, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) programme that supports cities achieve greater climate resilience. The city is the first in Poland to join the framework.

Engineering firm Arup is working closely with EBRD and the City of Warsaw to jointly develop its Green City Climate & Action Plan. Six focus areas have been identified, including: increasing use of smart energy, blue-green infrastructure, spatial planning, transport, waste management and social awareness. Warsaw is aiming through the plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and achieve yearly savings.

To help bring the plan to life, the Green Vision roadmap identifies 27 specific actions for the city alongside relevant funding opportunities.

The plan envisages increasing funding for the city’s coal-to-gas switch programme, alongside the creation of a co-financing programme to transition from gas to heat pumps. These programmes could reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 1 million tonnes as estimated through a benchmark analysis by Arup and C40 Cities.

To reduce CO2 emissions further, the Green Vision proposes urban greening, allocating more street space to trees and cycling infrastructure and the restoration of valuable natural areas such as the Wawer meander, a marsh and meadow area to the south-east of the city.  

Mobility is another consideration in Warsaw’s Green Vision, which outlines a range of smart energy solutions such as Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and Vehicle to Building (V2B) to connect electric cars to the power grid during electricty peak times. The city also plans to build a photovoltaic farm, install photovoltaic panels on buildings and harness the power of biogas to generate heat and electricity through a dedicated plant.

Arup’s digital team developed a database of 122 indicators to evaluate the city’s strengths, needs and opportunities in the six focus areas of the Green Vision. The indicators cover environmental quality, natural resource availability, climate change risks, energy efficiency as well as urban transportation, buildings, electricity, heat consumption, and water and waste infrastructure. These indicators will help monitor Warsaw’s journey towards climate resilience and adaptation.