Finland aims at fossil-free welfare society

Ambassador Pirkko-Liisa Kyöstilä, Embassy of Finland writes:

The message by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is clear: we need to increase the ambition level of climate actions.

The newly formed Finnish Government takes this message with the utmost seriousness. Climate change has also been one of the priorities for Finland’s on-going Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Finnish climate targets are aimed high: our Government works to ensure Finland is carbon neutral by 2035 and carbon negative soon after that.

We are hoping to achieve these goals by accelerating emissions reduction measures and strengthening carbon sinks.

With more than 70% of its area covered by trees, Finland is Europe’s most forested country. This has always formed the basis of the Finnish way of life. Finland’s rise to prosperity is based on expertise in using renewable natural resources sustainably. Today, commercial forestry must take into account forest biodiversity and carbon sinks. There is a policy of planting three seedlings for every tree harvested, and logging never exceeds forest growth.

Carbon sinks are important for Namibia, too. Within a collaboration project of the Finnish University of Turku and the University of Namibia, a large tree area is created in Namibia to function as a carbon sink and also to serve the ecological and economic needs of Namibia.

The area will be irrigated using desalinated seawater or groundwater. For the desalination process, a water purification method functioning with solar energy will be used. Developed by a Finnish company Solar Water Solutions, the method utilises solar energy to produce drinkable water as much as 3,500 litres an hour.

Reaching targets through legislation

Finland’s domestic climate policy is largely based on the Climate Act from 2015. The Act established planning scheme for a systematic and inclusive climate policy. According to new government programme, the Climate Act will be amended in a way that will enable us to achieve the target of carbon neutrality by 2035 and update the target for 2050.

The first middle-term climate policy plan based on the Climate Act was approved by the Parliament of Finland in 2018.

The implementation of this plan is already under way and it covers a vast number of policy measures in different sectors such as transport, agriculture and heating of buildings.

The transport sector, which is responsible for one fifth of all the emissions in Finland, has a magnitude of tools to reduce emissions.

Use of fossil fuels will be reduced by increasing the use of biofuels as well as supporting digitalization and automatisation of the transport system. Our Government is also planning to reform the energy and transport taxation.

Finland will phase out the energy use of coal in line with existing decisions. In February 2019, the Parliament approved a law that bans coal in energy use by 2029.

According to the government programme, energy companies will be supported in transition away from coal by 2025 by providing incentives for investments to replace coal. According to the programme, the use of oil will be phased out in heating by 2030.

Finland is investing in low-carbon, renewable energy and smart energy innovations and solutions. These are necessary in transition to a low carbon and socially fair society by offering new business opportunities and new jobs.

We also aim at improvements in the research, development and innovation environment.

The presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates in an established order among the EU Member States every six months. The presidency is responsible for taking forward the Council's work on EU legislation and policy initiatives in the Council and for ensuring the continuity of the EU agenda.

In addition, the presidency represents the Council in relations with the other EU institutions, particularly with the Commission and the European Parliament.