Juist climate island

Juist is a German island in the southern North Sea, around 8 km from the mainland. It belongs to the East Frisian island chain and lies off the coast of East Frisia. The island covers an area of 16.43 km² and is 17 km long, making it the longest of the East Frisian islands.

Islanders in particular feel the climate and, more recently, climate change very closely. The inhabitants of the North Sea island of Juist want to face the challenges of the future and develop into the world's leading model of a climate-neutral island. This requires many individual measures and partners.

From 2006 to 2009, Juist was a pilot partner in the ‘KUNTIKUM’ research project at Leuphana University in Lüneburg. The resulting findings were anchored in the ‘Climate Island Juist’ mission statement. In addition, a survey by the Bremen Energy Institute showed that the CO2 emissions caused by energy consumption on Juist in 2008 totalled 19,590 tonnes of CO2. Based on this data, a plan can now be developed to achieve the goal of climate neutrality.

Project objectives

• Visitor survey on guests' willingness to support and pay for the goal of a climate-neutral destination

• Development of concrete action plans for reducing energy consumption and emissions, as well as expanding renewable energy

• Gaining a majority of Juist residents for the conversion of the island into a climate-neutral destination

• Mobilisation of equity capital to finance building insulation measures in particular

• Initial restructuring, including, for example, the renovation of public buildings by the municipality

Futouris is helping the island of Juist to achieve and maintain its status as a ‘climate-neutral island’ and become a global showcase project by providing scientific guidance and financial and political support. This is to be achieved through the increased use of renewable energy and various measures to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency.