Climate and Energy Strategy comprehensively to outline the measures required by the 2035 goal

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has begun the preparation of a new national climate and energy strategy. It is being prepared in a coordinated manner with, and on the same knowledge base as, the medium-term climate plan, which in turn is drawn up under the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment. An opening webinar for stakeholders and experts in strategy work was held on 25 September 2020.

“The main focus of the policy measures outlined in the strategy and the scenarios based on them will be anchored in achieving the EU’s climate and energy targets set for 2030, including the goal announced by the Commission last week of tightening the EU’s emissions target from 40% to 55% and our own Government’s target of carbon neutrality by 2035,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, who opened the seminar.

The new climate and energy strategy will cover all of Finland's greenhouse gas emissions and sinks in the emissions trading sector, the burden-sharing sector and the land use sector. The strategy will serve as a carbon neutrality 2035 action plan that integrates different entities.

The strategy will also be a base for reporting under the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action and for updating the National Energy and Climate Plan, which will be submitted to the Commission in summer 2023.

The climate and energy strategy is being prepared as a joint project of the Government with the participation not only of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment but also of the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Ministry of Finance. Each ministry is responsible for the preparation and background studies of its own sector.

“The climate and energy strategy and other sectoral studies will bring proposals for action and new openings to the policy debate. Without political consensus and clear policies, we cannot move towards ambitious goals, at least not on the target timetable,” Lintilä warned.

“The goal of energy and climate policy is to make consistent progress towards a sustainable, carbon-neutral society. This development does not take place outside society but as part of societal measures and through society’s actions. Therefore we need a long-term and proactive climate and energy policy.

Achieving carbon neutrality requires a huge amount of investments involving many risks in industry and elsewhere in society. For this reason also, a long-range and comprehensive strategy is needed,” Lintilä said.

In addition to greenhouse gas sources and sinks, the strategy will include reviews of all five dimensions of the Energy Union of the European Union. Aside from greenhouse gas emissions, the strategy will address renewable energy, energy efficiency, the energy market, energy security and RDI activities. For the first time, in connection with the strategy impact assessment, a gender impact assessment — that is, an ex ante assessment of the potential gender impact of the measures and decisions — will be carried out for the project.

An extensive HIISI background study has been launched to support the preparation of the climate and energy strategy and the medium-term climate plan. The project coordinator is VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, with the Finnish Environment Institute, the Natural Resources Institute Finland, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and Pellervo Economic Research as its partners. The HIISI project will produce both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the impacts of the new climate and energy policy measures for the different emission sectors, businesses, people, the environment and nature. The project website is at: www.hiisi2035.fi

Work on the strategy is coordinated by the Ministerial Working Group on Climate and Energy Policy. The content of the strategy should be ready in summer 2021 and will be submitted as a report to Parliament in autumn 2021. 

Inquiries:
Riku Huttunen, Director General, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 431 6518
Antti Siika-Aho, Special Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs, tel. +358 50 575 4118
Petteri Kuuva, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 506 4819
Markku Kinnunen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 506 4792
Bettina Lemström, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 29 506 4116