Lund wins the WWF One Planet City Challenge

It shares that distinction with Bogotá, the capital of Colombia

For the first time in the history of the WWF One Planet City Challenge, there are two winners – and one of them is from Europe. The Swedish city of Lund and the Colombian capital of Bogotá shared the honour of coming out best in the prestigious environmental global competition.

Lund had the strongest competition contribution of all candidates and, according to the jury, excels with ambitious and clear climate goals, political leadership and a broad and transparent action program. Bogotá is rewarded for its extensive outreach work, where the city, despite major challenges, has implemented an ambitious climate program and also has pushed for its promotion nationally.

Mid-size cities can show leadership, too

“It is an honour and gratifying that Lund's active work with climate change is noticed by such an influential organization as the World Wide Fund for Nature. We do not inherit the land from our parents but borrow it from our children. The cities have a great opportunity to influence globally and this award shows that Lund is on the right track,” declared Philip Sandberg, chairman of the municipal board in Lund (the equivalent title of a mayor).   

This is the second time a relatively small Swedish city has won globally in competition with large, well-known cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Jakarta and Mexico City. The last time was 2018 when Uppsala became a global winner.  

Lund's climate goals are based on clear and step-by-step goals with milestones every five years to achieve rapid emission reductions in the near future. In 2030, it will be a climate-neutral, fossil fuel-free municipality and in 2045, emissions will be close to zero. 

Lund will also develop methods for generating negative emissions within its own borders, such as carbon storage in forests, land and wetlands. It has already halved its emissions by 2020 compared with 1990. 

An independent scientific climate policy council with representatives from the universities reviews the change and makes recommendations. This provides for transparency and quality. Lund is also a pilot in an international project to digitally visualize and develop climate work with the help of the Futureproofed tool to achieve climate goals together with citizens and partners. 

The latest round of the WWF One Planet City Challenge included 280 cities from 50 countries around the world. Representatives from the winning cities have been invited to accept their awards at the Urban Future 22 event in Helsingborg today.