Background At the international level, a range of tools exist to help businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These tools are, however, primarily used by larger manufacturing businesses. Many smaller businesses (manufacturing and service) are still in a reactive position in terms of climate initiatives – in spite of obvious potential for cost effective GHG reductions. A survey (pre 2009) of Danish ironmongers showed that a 15-20% reduction in GHG emissions could easily be achieved, and with positive economic impacts. The situation is similar in many other sectors dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Several of the participating municipalities in this project have already adopted Climate Action Plans and calculated GHG emissions within their administrative areas. The municipality of Ballerup estimates that more than 60% of its GHG emissions come from business. The corresponding figures in Albertslund and Copenhagen are 40% and 35% respectively. Objectives The project aimed to mobilise local Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for climate solutions and reduce GHG emissions from private enterprises through PPP. The specific objectives of the project were: 1) To develop, implement and demonstrate effective models for PPPs for climate planning and GHG reductions in private enterprises; 2) To develop competences and tools in local administrations to analyse and document climate reduction potentials and to initiate and facilitate climate action initiatives in private businesses; 3) To reduce the carbon footprint of at least 100 businesses involved in PPPs by 20%; and 4) To analyse and conduct a comparative assessment of the different PPP approaches tested and disseminate the findings and recommendations to European municipalities and business associations. Expected results were: An SME oriented framework model for PPPs for carbon action at local level that has been developed, applied and demonstrated by seven municipalities from the Danish Green Cities’ network; A core team of 30 public officials from the participating municipalities that have been trained in the role of “Municipal Climate Change Agents”; At least 100 companies and organisations participating in the project and pursuing a binding GHG-reduction target; and A 20% reduction of GHG emissions by the participating businesses.Results The Climate Partnerships project developed a process model for municipalities and companies to engage in climate planning and carbon reduction by businesses. The model was implemented and demonstrated by all seven municipalities in the project. The model included two types of PPI agreements with private companies. These were: an agreement with companies that provide services for other companies on energy savings; and an agreement with companies that committed themselves to 20% CO2 savings. During the project, some 119 local businesses committed to greenhouse gas reductions and 34 companies took part in different climate innovation activities. More than 70% of the participating companies were smaller SMEs with less than 50 employees and 90% of the participating companies were SMEs with less than 200 employees. During the project, 98 companies implemented 391 interventions. (average 3.5 interventions per company). These project interventions focussed on reducing GHG emissions by: Reducing emission in the supply chain; Energy savings in rental properties; Use of local raw materials and less food waste in canteens; Change of consumer behaviour by using local retailers; Prolongation of bikes´ service life by a circular and social economy; Better quality of construction waste in order to ensure more recycling; Energy optimisation of products by using the Carbon Footprint tool; Energy savings by more intelligent cleaning of road drains; Energy savings by changing employees´ transport habits; Heat recovery in public swimming pools; and Sustainable soil transportation;Competencies of municipal officers have been improved via the project’s training sessions and the training material is freely available on the project website. Furthermore, the project also produced positive results by starting a dialogue with the companies about innovation, which is perceived by many companies as a completely new approach. Innovation projects are also potentially relevant for local government as they can contribute with new solutions which do not only help facilitate a better climate, but also contribute to increased economic growth and new/more efficient solutions to public challenges. As for the 20% of CO2 savings in companies, the figures show a total reduction in CO2 emission from 85.315 tonnes CO2 in 2010 to 69.915 tonnes in 2013, i.e. a reduction on 150 tonne per enterprise - or 18 %. If the reduction in percentages is calculated for individual enterprises it shows an average reduction of 21.5 %. However, the calculation tool Klimakompasset.dk includes a method that suggests these good results may not be entirely due to project activities. In Klimakompasset.dk the calculation factor for electricity is adjusted every year according to the percentages of sustainable energy used for electricity production in Denmark. As a consequence, a company will reduce its CO2 emission by using the same amount of electricity, just because the electricity has become ‘greener’. Estimations suggest that with the same consumption of electricity in 2010 and 2012, calculations would show that a company had reduced its CO2 emission by at least 32%. Therefore, the 20% goal might not have been reached completely in the project implementation period but these activities will continue even though the LIFE project has ended. Carbon 20 has developed methods and tools to help develop companies‘ climate work. These can be used via local government’s collaboration with companies. The method includes establishing a PPI-collaboration between:local government; companies; the companies´ suppliers and clients; energy utilities; energy advisers; and other relevant partners. Energy efficient investments opportunities equivalent to 62 million Danish kr. (8.3 million Euro) have been identified in the project with a 3.5 years return of investments. During the project, investments were made equivalent to about 24 millions Danish kr (3.2 million Euro). Studies suggest that one million Danish kr. (134,000 Euro) creates one new job yearly. On the basis of this calculation method, the project can be shown to have helped to create 24 new jobs. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).