Six biggest cities aim to lead Finnish climate policy

Mayors of the six biggest cities in Finland:                   

The major cities have to take the lead in Finnish climate policy

The mayors of the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Turku and Oulu adopted a joint climate declaration at their meeting in the Old City Hall in Helsinki, last Wednesday. They emphasised the cities’ responsibility in combating climate change and proposed six concrete climate initiatives which the cities will promote through joint efforts.

The initiatives relate to building, supporting the citizens’ climate-friendly actions and developing the cities’ own operations. The mayors decided to advance the following joint actions for the climate:

• Drawing up a road map for energy-smart building in each of the cities
• Developing control and supervision of construction towards energy counselling and quality control
• Developing climate counselling and supporting residents’ climate actions through a joint project
• Appointing eco-counsellors for workplaces
• Reducing travelling by using video conferences
• Evaluating the climate effects of the cities’ budgets

“I think it’s excellent that the biggest Finnish cities were this quick to take on the challenge put to them by the ERA17 Programme. Quoting the mayors, when the six biggest cities take action, the whole country is nudged in the right direction,” comments Jukka Noponen, Director of Sitra’s Energy Programme.

Last spring, the mayors of the six biggest cities in Finland founded a climate network of city leaders. The initiative came from Sitra, as part of the ERA17 programme which is a joint operation of the Ministry of the Environment, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation and Sitra. The aim of the network is to promote the EU’s energy and climate goals and eco-efficient urban development. The network will help to advance new initiatives, increase cooperation and share best practices between the cities.

The network comprises the mayors of Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Turku and Oulu. The Mayor of Tampere, Timo P. Nieminen, is the chairperson.

See here the mayors’ climate declaration (in Finnish) and details about the initiatives (in Finnish).                        

Further information

Jukka Noponen, Director, Sitra’s Energy Programme, tel. +358 40 587 4323
Timo P. Nieminen, Mayor of the City of Tampere, tel. +358 400 780 866
Pauli Välimäki, secretary, Climate network of city leaders, tel. +358 40 801 6035