Three targets for the future:
- According to the Government Programme, Finland aims to be climate neutral in 2035 and the world’s first fossil-free welfare society. Carbon neutrality means that emissions and the sinks that sequester carbon are in balance, i.e. emissions caused by human activity are calculated to be as high as greenhouse gas removals.
- Finland’s obligation under EU law is to reduce the effort sharing sector’s green house gas emissions (non-ETS) by 39% by 2030 (from 2005 levels).
- The new Climate Change Act entered into force in 2022. The Act ensures that Finland’s carbon neutrality target for 2035 and sets emission reductions targets for 2030, 2040 and 2050.
The Climate Change Act lays the foundation for national work on climate change in Finland. The scope of the Act was extended to cover emissions from the land use sector, i.e. land use, forestry and agriculture, and for the first time the Act includes the objective to strengthen carbon sinks.
The emission reduction targets in the Climate Change Act are based on the recommendations of the Finnish Climate Change Panel. The emission reduction targets are -60% by 2030, -80% by 2040 and at least -90% but aiming at -95% by 2050, compared to the levels in 1990.
Source: Ministry of the Environment
Trend in greenhouse gas emissions and necessary emission reductions
An annual way of monitoring the implementation of the plans is the Climate Report. The Annual Climate Report 2022, published in late October, revealed that while there were no major changes in Finland’s total emissions in 2021, the land use and forestry sector has become a net source of emissions for the first time. Large harvesting volumes and slower forest growth are assumed to be the main reasons for this. The loss of carbon sinks increases Finland’s net emissions, and may increase the need for emission reductions in other sectors.
Net emissions refer to the difference between emissions and removals. Carbon neutrality requires that net emissions are zero. The 2021 data is a proxy estimate. Source: Annual Climate Report 2022, Ministry of the Environment.
At present, the key policy measures to achieve the government’s climate neutrality target include:
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- nearly emissions-free electricity and heat production by the end of 2030s
- resource-wise and low-emission transport system
- reducing the carbon footprint of construction
- improving the energy efficiency of the existing building stock and supporting the transition to zero-emission heating
- shifting the focus in taxation towards environmental harm
Here are Finland’s climate targets in a nutshell.
Further reading:
Read more about the current Government’s climate policy:
Climate Neutral Finland 2035 (Ministry of the Environment)
Finland’s national climate and energy strategy (2022) is a medium-term action plan that covers all greenhouse gas emissions and removals achieved through carbon sinks:
Climate Neutral Finland 2035 – national climate and energy strategy
National climate and energy strategy has been prepared in coordination with:
- Finland’s Medium-term climate change policy plan (2022) that applies to the effort-sharing sector, and
- Climate plan for the land use sector (2022) that includes specific measures taken to increase carbon sinks
Read more on the Climate Change Act 2022:
New Climate Change Act into force in July