Finnish municipalities fighting climate change

1. Finnishmunicipalitiesfightingclimatechange ENVE Externalseminar: Innovativelocal action to achievetheSustainableDevelopmentGoals Pauliina Jalonen, Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, 8.7.2019

2. Ambitious goals as friendly competition 40 % of theFinnishpopulationlives in a municipality with agoal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 latest

3. Political ambition is there – how about results? • Emission trend of the Carbon Neutral Municipalities (HINKU) 2007–2016 (municipality network of 55 municipalities coordinated by The Finnish Environmental Institute SYKE) • Challenges in transport and district heating

4. Joining networks pays off – collaboration & learning Several regional networks National • Climate Leadership Coalition (4 municipalities) • Energy efficiency agreements 2017–2025 (76 municipalities + 6 communities of municipalities) • CIRCWASTE(10 municipalities) • FISU network (11 cities) • HINKU Forum (56 municipalities) • Mayors’ Climate Network (6 cities) • Municipal Climate Protection Campaign of the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities (57 municipalities and 2 joint municipal authorities, ended in 2018)  • Motiva sustainable public procurement network (18 municipalities) • Smart & Clean (Helsinki capital region – large cities)   International • Climate-KIC (1 city and 1 region) • Energy Cities (2 cities) • Covenant of Mayors commitment(15 large cities and 1 region) • EUROCITIES – Environment Forum (6 cities) • ICLEI (12 cities) • UBC(10 cities)

5. EU fundingtoolssupportsbothinnovations & networks • UIA as example to supportindividualcities in theirinnovativeexperiments • Cities as platforms for collaborativeexperiments -> localbusinesses, residents & reseachinstitutesworktogetherwiththe city organization • The CitiCAP - Personal Carbon Trading PilotProject (City of Lahti) • Urban infra revolution - Circular economy materials and novel method development to produce recyclable and functional urban construction products (City of Lappeenranta) • LIFE-IP –projectsenablecollaborationwithresearchinstitutes & municipalities networkscoordinatedbyresearchinstituteswithproject management experience, informationdeskservices for municipalities • Towards Carbon Neutral Municipalities and Regions (Canemure) a 6 yrsproject for implementing Finnish climate policy. The total budget 15.3 million euros. Supports HINKU network. • CIRCWASTE - towards circular economy in Finland, a 7 yrsproject that promotes efficient use of material flows, waste prevention and new waste and resource management concepts. All actions contribute to implementing the national waste management plan and directing Finland towards a circular economy.

6. Challenges for local climate action • Municipalities have limited financial resources for climate action • The support available is often limited to project-based funding Financing Human resources • Municipalities have often failed to allocate adequate human resources for climate action, which impedes communication and opportunities for implementation Knowledge base • Comparable emissions data and its interpretation are not accessible to all • The long-term benefits of climate action are poorly identified • Climate efforts must be put into practice by area of responsibility, which requires in-depth skills and knowledge • Not everyone knows how to look for funding and support Know-how Political steering • To some extent, municipal climate action takes place in a vacuum, as the targets set in the government’s climate policy are not clear enough and do not extend beyond a single parliamentary term Best practices • Many Finnish municipalities are already taking effective climate action, but resources are wasted as the same solutions are developed in several places Commitment and attitudes • To ensure the necessary resources for climate measures, municipal decision-makers and the management need to commit to ambitious targets

7. Leading and implementing sustainability on local level 1/2 • A project financed as a part of the Government plan for analysis, assessment and research 2019 as an analysis for strategic and integrated approach in sustainable urban development • Project partners: Demos Helsinki, Finnish Environment Institute, FCG, MSDI + AFLRA • Objectives: • Advancingurbansustainability in a cross-sectoralstrategywork in the city organisations • OperationalisizingSDG’sbycocreation and bydeveloping a comparableknowledgebase

8. Leading and implementing sustainability on local level 2/2 • Project schedule 3/2019–4/2020 • 13 pilot municipalities, that are challenged to define and prioritise locally significant targets for sustainability • Main aspects: • Identifying and labelling the strategic & integrative challenges and possibilities • recognising different means of cocreation that enable the municipalities to bring sustainability in the core of implementation • To test a method that would not produce heavy reporting but would help municipalities to concentrate on key issues in their sustainability transition • When municipalities define and prioritise their targets, they use data from MayorsIndicators service (a web-based service for SDG indicators)

9. Thankyou! Pauliina Jalonen Pauliina.jalonen@kuntaliitto.fi, @jalonpa