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Press release of the Ministry of the Environment and KEINO Competence Centre
Green Deal agreement on emission-free work sites has boosted efforts to phase out fossil fuels

Ministry of the Environment
Publication date 15.1.2024 17.02
Press release
Machines on a work-site
Machines on a work-site

The mid-term evaluation of the Green Deal on emission-free work sites shows that almost all of the interim targets of the agreement have been reached. Electrification of machinery is a key tool to completely phase out fossil fuels.

According to the evaluation, 93% of the respondents considered that the interim targets are being reached in full or partly. All operators that have joined the agreement use the concept of emission-free work sites as part of their operations. Monitoring systems are being used, and about half of the work sites of the operators are partly fossil-free. To reduce harmful emissions, the work sites have started to use construction machinery that meets the Stage IV standard and trucks that comply with the Euro VI standard as a minimum requirement.

According to the evaluation, electrification of machinery would be the key tool for reaching the rest of the targets. The main challenges in this are the development of electric machinery and their availability within the time required for the agreement. 

To accelerate electrification, more operators are needed that make the commitment to the agreement. New operators raise the level of ambition with new actions and by setting more ambitious targets. Concrete actions and development proposals and evaluation of the results and impacts are also needed to reach the targets. 

Ambitious targets of the agreement maintained

According to the agreement on emission-free work sites, the work sites of the operators that are committed to the agreement should be free from fossil fuels in 2026, i.e. by the end of 2025. Besides this, the aim is that by the end of 2030 50% of the machinery and transport operations of the work sites should be fuelled by electricity, biogas or hydrogen. The targets set for the agreement encourage to develop the operations and build cooperation with research institutes and other companies in future as well.

The agreement on emission-free work sites was introduced to reduce emissions from the sites. The agreement can help reduce emissions from the effort-sharing sector. The Ministry of the Environment, Senate Properties and the cities of Espoo, Helsinki, Turku and Vantaa concluded this voluntary agreement in 2020. The Helsinki Region Environmental Services HSY, Metropolitan Area Transport Ltd and Helen Ltd joined the agreement later. 
The Sustainable Development Company Motiva supports the Ministry of the Environment in the implementation of the agreement through the KEINO Competence Centre for Sustainable and Innovative Public Procurement. 

The Ministry of the Environment is committed to carrying out mid-term evaluations of all voluntary agreements to monitor the impacts and results of the measures and estimate how the actions will proceed during the last years of the agreement. The interim evaluation of the agreement on emission-free work sites was carried out as thesis research for the Bachelor of Construction Management degree at the Novia University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with the KEINO Competence Centre.

Inquiries:

Salla Koivusalo
Senior Specialist
[email protected]
tel. +358295250289