2.1 Start up work on the climate budget

1. Organise the work on the climate budget.
• The climate budget is owned by the senior administrative manager, often the chief municipal executive.
• The process of preparing a climate budget is owned by the people who own the budget process, i.e. the chief
financial officer or equivalent.
• Appoint a working group with a mix of representatives from Finance and Climate & Environment.

2. Demarcate the climate budget. To which system boundaries is the climate budget to apply:
• The municipality’s geographical area or the municipality’s activities?
• To which climate targets is the climate budget to apply? Emissions reduction targets or other climate targets as well?
Direct emissions and/or indirect emissions?

3. Integrate the climate budget in the municipality’s financial budget or action & economic plan (A&EP).
• Ensure that the process of preparing a climate budget becomes part of the budget process
• Ensure that steering documents for preparing and following up the municipal budget include provisions stating:
– that all entities in the municipality must notify climate measures within their areas
– how and when the people responsible for measures are required to report on them

Tips for municipalities starting work on their first climate budget:
Demarcate the climate budget to cover direct emissions within the municipal boundary. The Norwegian Environment Agency has compiled greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories at municipal level and calculation templates for these system boundaries. By demarcating the climate budget to areas that can be quantified, you ensure that the climate budget becomes an effective governance system for measuring progress against a target.