1. Follow up the municipality’s reporting on climate measures
• Are the measures being implemented as planned?
• Are there deviations? Is a change in focus of the measure needed?

2. Evaluate the climate budget
• Use the information from reporting on result indicators and general indicators as a basis for preparing next year’s climate budget
• Is more stringent action or a change of course needed?

Draw up the climate budget chapter of the municipal budget. This may include:

• A presentation of the municipality’s climate targets.
• Historical emissions. The Norwegian Environment Agency’s GHG inventory for the municipality.
• A situation description. Which measures have already been started, and estimated emissions reductions for existing climate measures.
• A baseline. How would the emissions develop if no new measures were introduced?
• A measure trajectory. Estimated annual emissions reductions for the budget year and the entire action & economic plan (A&EP) period. This makes it possible to assess the effect of measures against the municipalities’ climate targets.
• Tables of measures. Tables showing existing and proposed climate measures and estimated emissions-reducing effect.
• Description of financing and responsibility for implementing climate measures.

1. Map the biggest emissions sectors and sources within the selected system boundaries
• Use the Norwegian Environment Agency’s GHG inventory at municipal level for an overview of the direct emissions.

2. Draw up a baseline showing the trend if no new measures are taken.

3. Draw up an emissions limit showing the emissions targets in the period up to the target year, and thus the level of emissions reductions required in the A&EP period to achieve the target in the target year.

4. Calculate the effect of the measures proposed in the climate budget.
• Use the Norwegian Environment Agency’s methodology and calculation templates to calculate emissions reductions.
• Be transparent: State all assumptions and conditions.
• Describe the uncertainty inherent in the calculation.

5. Develop result indicators against which those responsible for measures will report. Indicators can also be developed to assess the emissions trend.

6. Aggregate the effects of the measures and analyse the results.
• Prepare a measure trajectory showing the total effect of all the measures in the climate budget
• What is the trend in the measure trajectory relative to the emissions limit?
• Is more stringent action needed? Within which areas in the municipality and the business community are new
climate measures needed?

Tips for municipalities starting work on their first climate budget:
You do not need to develop a baseline to prepare a climate budget. The climate budget can be presented graphically using graphs for historical emissions, baselines, emissions limits (target trajectory) and measure trajectories. A simpler option is to present the results numerically in tables.

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.