Prague Water Net Zero Strategy 2025: methodology and roadmap

In 2019, Prague set out its Prague 2030 Climate Plan and Pražské vodovody a kanalizace, a.s., as the operator of drinking water supply and drainage facility in Prague and Pražská vodohospodářská společnost, a.s., responsible for infrastructure management (collectively known as Prague Water) are a natural part of the mitigation and adaptation activities. Both companies committed to reaching a net zero operational CO2 footprint in 2035. The carbon footprint of the company will be certified according to the ČSN ISO 14064-1 standard. The paper presents a roadmap of the early stage of the project, the calculation of the CO2 footprint and the ISO certification process together with planned mitigation activities. The main goal of the contribution is to share know-how about the application of carbon-wise management principles in a large utility company. This makes the paper useful for worldwide utilities at a similar stage of carbon footprint measurement and reduction. HIGHLIGHTS Our study presents a GHG protocol and ISO compliant calculation of the carbon footprint of a water utility.; Based on the carbon footprint assessment, we propose a roadmap of planned mitigation activities aimed at reducing emissions and promoting sustainability across the water utility’s operations.; Our study demonstrates how to apply carbon-wise management principles in a large utility company, highlights the challenges and opportunities of this approach, and offers insights into the key success factors for implementing carbon-wise management.