The purpose of the partnership is to develop climate action plans for each municipality with a level of ambition that matches the Paris Agreement.
DK2020 was originally started by Realdania (Danish philanthropic NGO) together with the international city network C40 and the Danish green think tank Concito. The goal is to adapt the climate work in the municipality so that it lives up to C40's standard for climate planning in 'The Climate Action Planning Framework (CAPF), thereby setting the plan for specific climate actions at local level.
Middelfart Municipality is one of the first municipalities in Denmark to have adopted a DK2020 climate plan. The plan sets ambitious goals for the next 30 years of climate work in the municipality. The climate plan was adopted in December 2020.
According to the climate plan Middelfart Municipality must be climate neutral in 2050, and already in 2030, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 70% compared to 1990 levels.
Based on the climate plan fixed funds are set aside in the yearly budget to support climate efforts will take place. In addition the politicians have committed themselves to find other solutions if any of the concrete measures cannot be implemented or they are not effective enough. In order to achieve the ambitious climate goals, a program manager was hired for the DK2020 climate plan in January 2021. The program manager is assisting the organization to ensure that the plan's many activities are implemented and thus contribute to a real reduction of greenhouse gases in Middelfart Municipality.
The DK2020 climate plans must ensure that all significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions must be handled. Middelfart Municipality’s climate plan therefore designate specific climate actions to areas such as transport, agriculture, energy, buildings, urban development and the municipality's own cars, properties and management.