Some Came Running

By Sami J. Anteroinen
Editor-in-Chief

This article was published on NORDICUM 3/2008

The fight against Climate Change is experiencing a trickle-down effect. While the campaign is largely spearheaded by the EU, also the member states are acknowledging the severity of the situation. Beyond national level, however, it has seemed that the buck won’t stop until it hits the citizen-consumer.

This is not an altogether accurate description. Finnish municipalities, for example, want to do their share in combating Climate Change. In December 2007, the Ministry of Trade and Industry signed new energy efficiency agreements for 2008–2016 with strong participation from the municipalities. The new agreements extend and enhance energy saving measures for the companies and communities adhering to the agreement scheme.

New municipal sector agreements were concluded by all the major cities, including Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu, as well as smaller municipalities.

However, some are eager to do even more. Five Finnish municipalities are about to start a climate project that is unique even by international standards. The objective is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more than is required by EU goals – and more quickly to boot. For the first time in Finland, the activities of municipalities and the businesses and people within them are examined in the same study from the perspective of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The participating municipalities are Mynämäki, Uusikaupunki, Kuhmoinen, Padasjoki and Parikkala.

The project will support the future development of the municipalities and promote the introduction of climate-friendly technology. The procedures developed within the project will be applicable in other municipalities in Finland and elsewhere in the world. The project is based on cooperation between companies, researchers, and public administration.

The genesis of the brave new project is an unusual one. Reportedly, six Finnish executives got together with one common concern: how to curb Climate Change. This unofficial brainstorming session fell under a theme ‘Surprise society’. Finnish consulting company Devoi and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) supplied the necessary muscle to get the wheels in motion.

The project will search for tools that municipalities can use in their efforts to check climate change. For the municipalities, the short-term goal is to find the central measures that can be used for cost-efficient reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

If everything goes according to plan, it will be possible to achieve concrete results already within a few years. The municipalities will first participate for one or two years and then, based on their experience, decide whether they will continue.

The long-term goals will reach as far as 20 years into the future, and the ultimate goal is no less, no more than a carbon-neutral municipality.