Helsinki-Uusimaa is aiming at climate neutrality by the year of 2030, in line with the forerunner municipalities of the region. The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Climate Roadmap is the guideline for the climate work supporting our municipalities and other actors in the implementation of their mitigation goals.
Helsinki-Uusimaa is aiming at climate neutrality by the year of 2030.
Our urgent goal of climate neutrality calls for cooperation on a wide scale in all sectors; public, private and RDI, and that is done by furthering shared projects. The climate actions of our region are based on local strengths and the sharing of best practices.
Six climate spearheads in Helsinki-Uusimaa
Our Regional Climate Roadmap includes six focus areas for climate change mitigation. These six spearheads have been chosen as the most vital and urgent themes for climate neutrality.
Five of our spearheads strive to mitigate climate change and to support a green transition. They represent the most important emissions sources of the region. The focus of mitigation lies on climate smart land use and construction, smart and emission-free mobility, fast and fair energy transition, climate neutral circular economy, together with sustainable consumption and production.
It is practically impossible to reach climate neutrality without carbon sequestration and compensating residual emissions. Therefore, the sixth spearhead of the roadmap aims to strengthen regional carbon sinks and storages, and to compensate for any residual emissions.
Finnish cities and municipalities are very autonomous and thus in a key position when it comes to enabling a climate neutral region. All large cities in our metropolitan region, as well as many smaller member municipalities already have action programmes of their own. However, reaching the ambitious goal naturally calls for international cooperative actions on our behalf, too.
Our climate actions at the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council are being supported by the project CANEMURE funded by the EU Life programme. CANEMURE stands for “Towards Carbon Neutral Municipalities and Regions in Finland”.
Emissions in Helsinki-Uusimaa fallen by almost a third
In our quest for carbon neutrality in 2030, we use 2005 as the reference year. In recent years, we are pleased to see the emissions in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region fallen by 27 %, and even by 38 % per capita. While our regional emissions account for 20 percent of the national ones, the emissions per capita are well below the national average and decrease more quickly.
Emissions from transport and heating dominate the emission profile of our region. In 2020, the total emissions of our region were 6,6 million tonnes CO2e, or 3,9 tonnes per capita.
The development of emissions in the region is followed up according to an annual national inventory by the Finnish Environment Institute.
Find out more
Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Programme
The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Programme sets out our region’s vision for 2030 and outlines the development priorities, objectives and measures for 2022–2025. The vision is “Well Ahead”, and the Programme includes the key development guidelines and strategies from the global level to the municipal level.
For more information, please contact:
Pia Tynys
Chief Adviser, Climate Change
Climate work in Helsinki-Uusimaa, green transition, climate roadmap: Carbon Neutral Helsinki-Uusimaa by 2030
Simo Haanpää
Adviser, Climate Change
simo.haanpaa@uudenmaanliitto.fi
Climate change mitigation, regional coordination of Canemure project
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Threat of increasing urban sprawl by EU Nature Restoration Law
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