Bonn, a medium-sized city in Western Germany, not only it hosts the headquarters for Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention Climate Change (UNFCCC), but it is a leading example of comprehensive urban climate transition.
At the end of 2019, the Bonn City Council resolved that the city would become climate-neutral by 2035. To lay out to path toward this target, at the end of 2021 a consortium of experts was commissioned to develop a strategy and work programme for achieving this goal. The resulting Climate Plan 2035, adopted in March 2023, now serves as the city’s roadmap to a climate-neutral future, enabling Bonn to identify not only challenges but also opportunities for new partnerships, when it comes to cutting emissions.
From the study, it was evident that a central element of this transition would have been involving the local economy. Emissions from trade and industry in Bonn account for 32.6% of greenhouse gas emissions (2022), making cooperation with businesses essential for climate neutrality. At the same time, the city recognises that this transition presents significant challenges for companies, affecting all areas of activity—from corporate strategies and production investments to employee skills and organisational structures.
From large-scale outreach Hub to a focused partnership
The City has prioritised engaging with business even prior to the Climate Plan 2035. In 2021, the City established the Sustainability Hub Region Bonn, with a broader thematic and geographic scope. It currently brings together 200–300 companies of different sizes, alongside regional stakeholders such as the Chamber of Commerce and some of the surrounding district authorities. The Hub facilitates networking, events and advisory services, and addresses a wide range of sustainability topics beyond climate mitigation, including skills and corporate responsibility.
Building on this, and following the political and strategic framework for emissions reduction defined in the Climate Action Plan 20230, Bonn has more recently developed a set of targeted instruments under its “Climate Protection Offers for Business”, an initiative designed to engage companies (or branches) located in Bonn that already have climate targets. The offers provided by the city include climate protection consulting for companies, a Climate Partnership network, sustainable business park management, and specialist and networking events.
Within the wider Sustainability Hub ecosystem, the Climate Partnership acts as a more focused, “zoomed-in” instrument. While the hub enables large-scale outreach and general engagement, the partnership provides a more intimate setting for deeper collaboration through regular interaction among a smaller group of companies. This structure enables more meaningful exchange, stronger relationships, and a higher level of collective ambition.
Bringing businesses into Bonn’s climate transition
The Climate Partnerships network was launched in February 2025 with five founding companies, including the Bonn branch of DHL, Stadtwerke Bonn, SGL Carbon, LVR Clinic Bonn and QVEST Digital. Over the course of the year, the network expanded to include additional partners such as Telekom Deutschland GmbH, Deutsche Welle AöR, GKN Powder Metallurgy GmbH and the Dardenne SE Eye Clinic, and is expected to grow from nine to twelve companies by April 2026. The initiative underwent a conceptual phase in 2024, with detailed planning and design of the partnership model, before implementation began in 2025, currently coordinated by a single dedicated staff member from the Municipality of Bonn.
Initially conceived as a tool to reduce industrial emissions, the initiative was adapted to reflect Bonn’s economic structure, which is dominated by service sectors rather than heavy industry. It has therefore evolved into a cross-sectoral network addressing a wide range of sustainability challenges, including energy use, mobility, logistics, and building management. Participating companies represent sectors such as healthcare, IT, logistics, telecommunications, and energy.
The programme specifically targets companies with more than 50 employees that have already integrated climate protection into their corporate strategy. Companies can join by signing a cooperation agreement during a ceremonial act with the mayor and outreach for continuous growth of the network is created directly, through companies’ participation in events, existing relationships with municipal actors, media coverage, articles, social media, and word-of-mouth.
Unlike broader business engagement platforms, the Climate Partnership is intentionally small and selective. To participate, companies must demonstrate concrete climate targets, greenhouse gas accounting, and internal responsibility structures for sustainability. While participation is voluntary, companies are required to sign a declaration of intent committing them to continuous improvement in their climate protection efforts. This ensures a high level of ambition among participants and creates a group that can benefit from deeper, trust-based peer exchange.
At its core, the partnership model is built around three complementary components:
- Individualised support: The city provides tailored consultancy and practical assistance to participating companies. This goes beyond basic guidance, including connections to relevant municipal departments, advice on municipal infrastructure plans such as energy or mobility, and facilitation of access to external expertise.
- Peer learning and exchange: The network itself is the central mechanism. Companies meet regularly through workshops, site visits and expert sessions to exchange experiences and explore solutions. In the first year, this has already led to independent collaboration between companies on complex topics such as supply chains or Scope 3 emissions.
- Visibility and events: Participating companies are recognised as “Climate Partners”, gaining visibility for their efforts and serving as examples for others in the local economy. The program offers numerous events and networking opportunities, creating platforms for knowledge sharing, inspiration and wider engagement within the local economy.
The initiative is designed to remain flexible and responsive. Topics, formats and activities evolve based on company needs, and new ideas, such as a monthly newsletter, have been introduced directly in response to participant feedback.
Cultivating partnerships as enablers for change
The Climate Partnerships initiative delivers clear strategic value for the City of Bonn by enabling climate action through collaboration rather than regulation. Given the city’s limited direct influence over business emissions, the initiative provides a practical way to drive reductions by working in partnership with the private sector. As one city representative emphasised: “We need to be a good partner that provides the space and opportunities for companies to go the way they want to go.”
This approach strengthens relationships with businesses while generating valuable insights into their needs, challenges and investment plans, sharing information that can inform urban planning, particularly in areas such as energy infrastructure and mobility. At the same time, the initiative creates “lighthouse” examples that inspire broader change across the business community, especially among SMEs.
At its core, the initiative addresses a less tangible but critical barrier to change: uncertainty. By creating a supportive and collaborative environment, it helps companies navigate the complexities of transformation, while encouraging incremental progress.
As one city representative highlighted: “There’s a lot of fear... fear of transforming, changing their business setup… And if we can just make them take one more step and take a little of this fear away, then we are already on the winning side.”
Lessons learned, challenges and the path ahead
By building a local network of leading companies, the City of Bonn aims to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral economy while strengthening its position as a sustainable business location. The initiative demonstrates how cities can mobilise the private sector not only as stakeholders, but as active partners in delivering climate action.
Despite being at an early stage, initial feedback from the companies involved has been positive. Strong group cohesion, active peer-to-peer exchange, and a high willingness to share knowledge indicate that the model is already delivering value. A formal evaluation is planned for summer 2026, which will provide further insights to guide the initiative’s future development and potential scaling.
At the same time, scaling the initiative while maintaining its effectiveness remains a key challenge. Limited staff capacity within the city administration may constrain further expansion, while participating companies already engage in 6–7 events per year, making additional commitments difficult. As the network grows, potentially to 20–30 companies, there is also a risk of losing the close, trust-based and informal dynamic that currently emphasizes its success.
In response, the city is exploring ways to adapt the model without compromising its core strengths. This includes ideas around introducing thematic or sector-specific working groups, differentiating between core meetings and optional topic-based sessions, and allowing greater flexibility in how companies participate.
When looking at replication, Bonn’s Climate Partnership model highlights starting small and selective, focusing on quality engagement and trust-building with companies. Embedding the initiative within a broader climate strategy provides political legitimacy and clear targets, while offering tailored support to help overcome practical barriers, while integrating the partnership within a larger regional ecosystem allows for broad outreach alongside deeper, high-impact collaboration. Overall, a flexible, supportive, and visible approach can help cities accelerate business engagement in the transition towards climate neutrality.
Bonn, Germany
Covenant Signatory since 2009
Population: 329 000
Area covered: 141km2
Key Figures
Overall CO2 emissions reduction target:
- Climate neutrality by 2035 (≈ >90% GHG emissions reduction compared with 1990 levels) according to the Bonn Climate Plan 2035
- 32.6% of greenhouse gas emissions in Bonn come from trade and industry (2022)
- 2025: Launch of the Climate Partnerships for Business network
- 9 companies currently participating in the network in 2025, minimum 3 more joining in 2026
Useful links:
Financing the project
The Climate Partnerships initiative is financed and coordinated by the City of Bonn’s Economic Development Agency as part of the Bonn Climate Plan 2035 work programme. Participation for companies is free of charge.
Contact
Sven Schneider, City of Bonn, Office for Economic Development, Head of Service Center f Wirtschaft: Sven.Schneider@bonn.de
Christopher Franz, City of Bonn, Office for Economic Development, Climate partnerships: Christopher.Franz@bonn.de
Martin Knoke, City of Bonn, Office for Economic Development, Commercial area management for Climate Action: Martin.Knoke@bonn.de