Edinburgh Council unveils ambitious plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2030 Edinburgh Castle and the city’s Old Town, a World Heritage site (Jane Barlow/PA) Retrofitting old energy-inefficient buildings in Edinburgh’s Old and New Towns will be a key challenge in the city’s bid to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, say councillors. Edinburgh Council has laid out draft plans to drastically cut greenhouse emissions and achieve its ambitious target within the decade, harnessing momentum from the Cop26 United Nations climate change summit in November. Its draft strategy includes new electric car charging hubs for “public service vehicles”, gathering the city’s most influential chief executives to “develop a pipeline of net-zero projects” and creating a “heat and energy masterplan”.