Minister Emma Kari: This spring will be critical in building fossil-free Finland
“This spring will be a critical time in building a carbon-neutral Finland. The Government’s proposals for a reformed Climate Change Act and all three key climate change plans will be finalised within the next few months,” Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari said at her briefing on climate change policy.
“With the new Climate Change Act, carbon neutrality by 2035 will be a binding target for Finland that will guide our climate work on a long-term basis across Government terms. The plans will serve as practical guidelines that will show how we can built a climate change resilient welfare state that is independent of fluctuations in the fossil economy,” Minister Kari said.
The Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan concerning transport, agriculture and the individual heating of buildings was circulated for comments from December to January. A summary of the comments received is almost ready, and on Friday the research institutes will submit their own assessments of whether the measures included in the plan will be sufficient to reach the targets. Based on these assessments, the Ministerial Working Group on Climate and Energy Policy will finalise the plan by mid-March.
The Climate and Energy Strategy for the industrial sector and heat production, i.e. the emissions trading sector, and the climate plan concerning the land use sector that covers agriculture and forestry will also be sent out for comments within the next few months.
“By boosting green transition we can keep the costs of heating and mobility under control”
The climate change policy plans will be finalised in a situation where energy prices in the world market are rising fast.
“The Government has supported clean energy production, energy renovations of private households and expanding the charging infrastructure for electric cars. These measures will make us less dependent on imported fossil fuels that are sensitive to price fluctuations. By boosting the green transition we can ensure reasonable costs of heating and mobility in the whole country.”
According to Minister Kari, earmarked support for energy renovations should be targeted to low-income households.
“Energy renovations can effectively prevent excessive and unexpected heating costs during freezing winter temperatures. However, for many families this kind of one-off investment would be too much. In the government spending limits discussion this spring the Ministry of the Environment will propose EUR 10 million as a new form of support to be targeted to low-income households. In addition to this, we will propose EUR 40 million in subsidies for improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings and for measures that aim for smart and flexible energy consumption,” the Minister said.
Minister Kari pointed out that, in climate change policy, it is important to always look to the future.
“Building a fossil-free welfare state will be our most important task in the coming decades. The work on climate issues must become the new normal in thinking about the decisions made in society, in the same way as the economy and the government spending limit procedures already are. The perspectives of climate change and environmental resilience should be incorporated in all use of state funds and legislation, in the same way as we are focusing on the economic aspects in the spending limit discussions,” Minister Kari said.
Inquiries
Requests for interviews with the Minister:
Milja Henttonen
Special Adviser to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
tel. +358 50 599 3094
[email protected]
Government’s climate change policy:
Riikka Yliluoma
Special Adviser to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change
tel. +358 50 414 1682
[email protected]