Minister Mykkänen: Work on climate handprint a significant opportunity for Finland – calculation model developed together with business and industry
The Government’s aim is to create clean economic growth in Finland and replace pollution-generating solutions around the world through technology exports. The Government will boost the work on the positive climate handprint together with business and industry.
The vision for clean energy in the Government Programme states that Finland will become a leader in clean energy and climate handprint. Climate handprint refers to the positive climate impacts of a product or service.
“The best way a small country like Finland can contribute to the fight against climate change is by taking our climate solutions to the world. As one of the leaders in clean production, we can create a competitive advantage for Finland. By developing the calculation of the climate handprint, we can also show that even a small country can be a globally influential player. The positive climate handprint of Finnish exports is an important part of our country branding,” Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen says.
“The key question is how we can scale up the clean Finnish solutions for high-volume production. In Finland we have learned to use waste heat for heating in cities, for example, thus replacing fossil fuels in district heat production. Individual actions will not change the climate, but beneficial impacts on it can be multiplied when the solutions are used in big cities with large numbers of people,” Mykkänen points out.
New study creates guidelines for developing the calculation of climate handprint
On 25 September 2024, the Finnish Environment Institute presented the results of a study that analysed the climate handprint of Finnish exports in 2019. The study was funded by the Ministry of the Environment. This assessment is the first effort in Finland to calculate the climate handprint that covers all exports of our national economy, not just individual products.
There is no single established definition for the climate handprint. In the study climate handprint refers to the potential positive climate impact that the use of a certain product or service can create when it substitutes for a similar product or service offered within the same product category. Based on the results, the climate handprint of Finnish exports in 2019 was 13-23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, depending on the country of origin of the products that the exports substituted for.
“The Government has promised to promote the calculation of the climate handprint and is prepared to create solutions to improve and standardise the model. This study we commissioned is an important start for the work on the climate handprint that we will promote together with business and industry. It is in the interest of Finland as a whole that we can make use of the positive climate handprint as part of the marketing of Finnish solutions and promoting exports,” Mykkänen concludes.
Inquiries:
Lyydia Ylönen
Special Adviser to the Minister of Climate and the Environment
tel. +358 50 476 1341
[email protected]