1. Municipality Profile

Key Economic Sectors

Tourism, agriculture.

Governance Structure

The municipality is managed by the Mayor of Raciechowice together with 15 councillors from 15 villages.

2. Motivation for Climate Neutrality

Reasons for Action

The Municipality of Raciechowice wants to reduce the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events that are becoming more frequent and destructive. Achieving climate neutrality will help slow down global warming, which has a direct impact on biodiversity conservation and economic and social stability.

Strategic Goals

The Raciechowice Municipality aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 1996 levels (intermediate target). However, the main objective is to achieve climate neutrality in 2050 and adapt the municipality to the effects of climate change. The municipality intends to achieve its goal by, among other things, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and producing safe, secure and price-protected energy.

3. Baseline Assessment

Data Collection Process

Data on the number of municipal buildings comes from the municipal database, while data on the number of residential buildings from the CEEB (Central Emission Inventory of Buildings) database. To collect data on transport, the CommitClimate survey was used. The municipal database was again used for obtaining energy production data, while the Agricultural Census was used to provide data on agriculture. Data collected on the basis of a survey, where you can get information about the consequences related to the use of energy.

CO2 Emission Inventory

Sources of Emissions:
Primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Raciechowice municipality include:

• Residential and municipal buildings (93,1 %)
• Transport (6,6 %)
• Public infrastructure (0,3 %)

Total Emissions:
Total CO₂ emissions in the baseline year are estimated at approximately 128 837 tons CO₂eq.

Total Energy Consumption:
Total energy consumption in Cēsis municipality is approximately 1081,3 GWh per year.

4. Measures and Planning

Focus Areas

Modeling results clearly show that the main emission sources—municipal buildings and transport, especially private transport—require prioritized attention. Residential energy efficiency retrofits also present high potential for impact. The municipality has strengths in community engagement and renewable energy promotion, though barriers remain in terms of private sector control, limited data availability, and financing. The CommitClimate project plays a vital role by supporting planning capacity and helping visualize policy impacts.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Residential renovation rate
• Municipal building energy intensity
• Share of renewables in public infrastructure
• CO2 emissions per capita
• Share of waste diverted from landfill

Key Measures Implemented

The Municipality of Raciechowice organises informal meetings with residents where they can discuss climate issues. Residents are also engaged in practical activities to generate ideas for local climate initiatives and co-create solutions with urban planners. The local authority tries to model the possible impacts of different climate conditions of policies and actions, helping citizens to visualise the impact of the municipality. In addition, the Raciechowice Municipality takes advantage of programmes to subsidise the purchase of photovoltaic and solar installations and participates in the “Clean Air” programme through which residents can receive funding to renovate their homes and replace their heat sources with environmentally friendly ones.

Scenario Simulation Results

Municipal Buildings:

• Policy: Replacement of light bulbs (10 % annual implementation from 2025).
• Results by 2050:
  • Annual energy savings: 5793 MWh (2,6 %)
  • Annual CO₂ reduction: 3800 tons (4,7 %)

Residential Buildings:

• Policy: Renovation of single-family houses (5 %/year) from 2025.
• Results by 2050:
  • Annual energy savings: 1737 MWh (3 %)
  • Annual CO₂ emissions reduction: 674 tons (2,8 %)

Public Infrastructure:

• Policy Measures: Integration of RES in public lighting, wastewater generation decrease (3 – 5 %/year).
• Results by 2050:
  • Energy savings: 55 MWh/year (5,6 %)
  • CO₂ emissions reduction: 36 tons/year (5,6 %)

Other Sectors:

• Not included in the simulation model for Raciechowice; no policies analyzed.

Transport Sector:

In this sector, no policy measures were proposed or tested, as the municipality has currently no plans to implement additional interventions. Therefore, the baseline scenario remains unchanged, and no simulated energy or emission reductions are projected for this sector.

Waste Management:

• Policy: Per capita waste generation reduction (0,5 %/year).
• Results by 2050:
  • Waste generation reduction: 269 tons (11,8 %)
  • GHG reduction: 167 tons (4,7 %)

Local energy production:

• Not included in the simulation model for Raciechowice; no policies analyzed.

The results of the simulation show that in the baseline scenario energy demand is 298,09 GWh/year; as no population changes occur, this value remains unchanged from the baseline year through 2050. As illustrated in the figure below, the implementation of the selected policy package causes a gradual energy demand decrease, resulting in an energy demand of 290,51 GWh by 2050. This corresponds to energy savings of approximately 7584,4 MWh, or 2,5 % compared to the baseline projection.

The selected policy package leads to similarly modest emission reductions – CO₂ emissions decrease from 114,4 thousand tons in the baseline scenario to approximately 109,8 thousand tons in the policy scenario by 2050, resulting in annual emission savings of 4678,5 tons (4,1 %). As shown in the figure below, while the policy scenario slightly lowers emissions compared to the baseline trajectory, emissions remain above the long-term CO₂ target, indicating that additional mitigation measures would be required to fully achieve the municipality’s climate objectives.