Climate Policy Roundtable meets to discuss the Climate Change Act

The Climate Policy Roundtable will hold its fifth meeting on Wednesday 2 December. The main topic of the meeting is the process to reform the Climate Change Act.

Finland aims to be carbon neutral by 2035. The Climate Change Act that entered into force in 2015 will be amended and strengthened in such a way that this target will be achieved. Emission reduction targets to 2030 and 2040 that correspond to the path towards carbon neutrality will be included in the Act and the target to 2050 will be updated. The land use sector and a target for strengthening carbon sinks will also be included in the Act. The proposal for the amended Climate Change Act should be ready for consultation in spring 2021.

“The fact that the carbon neutrality target to 2035 will be included in the Climate Change Act is a strong signal for climate work in the coming years. At the same time, the transition to a carbon-neutral Finland must take place in a way that is fair and just, both socially and regionally. The roundtable discussion will give us ideas how a fair and just transition should be taken into account in the process to amend the Climate Change Act,” says Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change and vice-chair of the roundtable. The meeting on 2 December will be chaired by Minister Mikkonen.

In the preparation of the amended Climate Change Act a key focus has been on broad participation. From the very beginning of the reform process different kinds of inquiries, online consultations and discussion events have been organised to hear the views of people from different parts of Finland and special groups such as the young and the Saami people. At the meeting Senior Ministerial Adviser Jarmo Muurman from the Ministry of the Environment will give an update on the process to amend the Climate Change Act.

The Government appointed the Climate Policy Roundtable on 27 February 2020. It brings together a broad spectrum of stakeholders from different sectors of society. The purpose of the roundtable is to create a common understanding of how Finland can make a just transition to a carbon neutral society by 2035. With its work, the roundtable supports the preparation and implementation of Finland’s national climate policy.

Inquiries:

Riikka Yliluoma, Special Adviser to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, tel. +358 295 250 091, [email protected]

Leena Ylä-Mononen, Director General, chair of the working group amending the Climate Change Act, tel. +358 295 250 023, [email protected]

Merja Turunen, Senior Ministerial Adviser, Secretary-General of the Climate Policy Roundtable, tel. +358 295 250 387, [email protected]