Annual Climate Report 2024

The Annual Climate Reports are prepared each year under the lead of the Ministry of the Environment. The report examines the general development of greenhouse gas emissions and the sufficiency of the planned measures in relation to the national climate targets and Finland’s EU obligations. This page present a concise summary of the trends of emissions in Finland and the achievement of the targets. 

•    Institutional Repository for the Government Valto: Annual Climate Report 2024 (In Finnish)

According to the national Climate Act, Finland’s net emissions should be zero or negative by 2035. By 2030, the total emissions must be reduced by 60% compared to the 1990 level. Finland’s obligations for the carbon sink of the land use sector and emission reductions in the effort sharing sector are set at the EU level.

Finland’s emissions decreased considerably in 2023

Emissions from energy production are decreasing substantially but further actions will be needed to reach the national targets and meet the obligations set at the EU level. In particular, further actions will be needed in the land use and effort sharing sectors.

Press release: Clean energy transition makes good progress – further action needed to reach climate targets

The conclusions are based on instant preliminary data of Statistics Finland, but more accurate data will become available later.

  • Emissions from the emissions trading sector decreased by 19%
  • Emissions from the effort sharing sector decreased by 5%
  • The carbon sink of the land use sector was circa -1 Mt CO2-eq
Käännätkö tämän ruotsiksi: Suomen kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen kehitys vuosina 2005-2023 sekä tavoiteltu kehityskulku vuosiin 2030 ja 2035 on kuvattu viivadiagrammilla. Kokonaispäästöt, joihin kuuluvat taakanjako- ja päästökauppasektori sekä kotimaan lentoliikenne, on kuvattu käyrällä, joka on laskenut noin 80 miljoonasta hiilidioksidiekvivalenttitonnista noin 40 miljoonaan tonniin. Kokonaispäästöjen tulisi olla hieman alle 30 miljoonaa hiilidioksidiekvivalenttitonnia vuonna 2030. Tämä tavoite saavutetaan, kun päästövähennystahti jatkuu samansuuntaisena aiempaan kehitykseen verrattuna. Maankäyttösektorin nettonielu tai –päästö on kuvattu käyränä, joka on noussut merkittävästä nielusta vuonna 2009 nettopäästölähteeksi vuonna 2018. Vuoden 2030 velvoitteen saavuttamiseksi nielun tulisi kasvaa selvästi viime vuosien kehitykseen verrattuna. Nettopäästöt eli kokonaispäästöjen ja nielujen erotus on kuvattu käyränä, joka on sahannut noin 40 ja 60 miljoonan tonnin välillä. Vuoden 2035 hiilineutraaliustavoitteen saavuttaminen vaatisi, että nettopäästöt kääntyisivät selvään laskuun. ChatGPT Sure, here is the translation into Swedish: Utvecklingen av Finlands växthusgasutsläpp under åren 2005-2023 samt den önskade utvecklingsbanan för åren 2030 och 2035 är avbildad i ett linjediagram. De totala utsläppen, som inkluderar sektorerna för bördefördelning och utsläppshandel samt inrikesflyg, visas med en kurva som har minskat från cirka 80 miljoner ton koldioxidekvivalenter till cirka 40 miljoner ton. De totala utsläppen bör vara något under 30 miljoner ton koldioxidekvivalenter år 2030. Detta mål uppnås om utsläppsminskningstakten fortsätter i samma riktning som tidigare utveckling. Nettoinlagringen eller -utsläppen från markanvändningssektorn är avbildade med en kurva som har ökat från en betydande inlagring år 2009 till en netto utsläppskälla år 2018. För att uppnå åtagandet för år 2030 bör inlagringen öka betydligt jämfört med utvecklingen under de senaste åren. Netto utsläppen, dvs. skillnaden mellan totala utsläpp och inlagring, är avbildade med en kurva som har varierat mellan cirka 40 och 60 miljoner ton. För att uppnå målet om koldioxidneutralitet år 2035 krävs att netto utsläppen vänder till en tydlig minskning. Ja käännötkö vielä saman englanniksi ChatGPT Certainly, here is the translation into English: The development of Finland's greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 to 2023, as well as the projected trajectory for 2030 and 2035, is illustrated in a line graph. Total emissions, which include the effort-sharing and emissions trading sectors as well as domestic air traffic, are depicted by a curve that has decreased from approximately 80 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to about 40 million tons. Total emissions should be slightly below 30 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030. This target will be achieved if the emission reduction rate continues in the same direction as the previous trend. The net sink or emissions from the land use sector is shown by a curve that has increased from a significant sink in 2009 to a net source of emissions in 2018. To meet the 2030 obligation, the sink should grow significantly compared to the trend of recent years. Net emissions, i.e., the difference between total emissions and sinks, are shown by a curve that has fluctuated between approximately 40 and 60 million tons. Achieving the 2035 carbon neutrality goal would require net emissions to turn into a clear decline.
According to the national Climate Act, Finland’s net emissions should be zero or negative by 2035. By 2030, the total emissions must be reduced by 60% compared to the 1990 level. This would mean a level of 28.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Finland’s obligation for the carbon sink of the land use sector is set at the EU level. With the current figures in the greenhouse gas inventory, the obligation for the Finnish land use sector for 2030 is -7.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Emissions trading sector: Clean energy transition progresses fast

In 2023, the emissions trading sector accounted for 38% of Finland’s total emissions. The emissions decreased by 19% from the year before, while in 2021–2022 the emissions fell by 6%.

The main reasons for the decrease in emissions were the decrease in the consumption of coal by about a half and significant decrease in the consumption of peat. At the same time, the proportion of nuclear and wind power in energy production grew. The factors influencing the trend in emissions also include the demand for electricity in the industrial sector and electrification. 

Emissions from energy production have decreased faster than was expected. Fossil fuels will be phased out in electricity and heat production within the next few years.

The EU emissions trading system (ETS) covers major industrial and energy production plants as well as aviation within the European Economic Area. Starting in 2024, maritime transport will also gradually become part of the emissions trading system, and new emissions trading system concerning fuel distributors will get started in 2027.

Effort sharing sector: Steady decrease in emissions from transport continued

Emissions from the effort sharing sector decreased by 5.3% in 2023. The effort sharing sector comprises transport, agriculture, building-specific heating, waste management, non-road mobile machinery and F-gases, as well as small industrial and heat plants. 

Emissions decreased in all categories, including transport and agriculture, which are the greatest emission sources in the sector. Emissions from agriculture fell by about 1% and those from transport by about 4%.

In the effort sharing sector, Finland’s obligation set at the EU level is to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to the level in 2005. At the moment it is still uncertain whether Finland will reach the target. 
 
As a whole, emissions from the effort sharing sector have decreased quite slowly compared to the emissions trading sector and relative to the climate targets. So far Finland has stayed within the annual quotas, but more emission reductions will be needed as the quotas will decrease towards 2030.

Land use sector: Sink of the land use sector is still far from the target

The land use sector comprises land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). Forests and soil are the most significant carbon sinks in the land use sector. The size of the forest carbon sink varies a great deal from one year to the next, but in the past few years the sink has decreased considerably. Based on instant preliminary data, the land use sector was again a small net sink in 2023, but more accurate data will become available later. The land use sector was a source of emissions in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

It is typical for the land use sector that annual changes are greater than those in other sectors. The variation is mainly due to changes in the global demand for forest industry products that are reflected in the harvesting volumes. On the other hand, it takes quite a long time before the impacts of measures to strengthen the carbon sink of forest soils can be seen.

In terms of both Finland’s carbon neutrality target and EU obligations, further actions are needed especially in the land use sector. Carbon neutrality requires that Finland’s carbon sinks are at least equal to emissions. Earlier the sinks of the land use sector in 2035 were estimated to be much larger than based on the current estimates. According to the current estimate, with respect to the EU obligations for the land use sector Finland will fall far behind the obligations for 2021–2025. 

Monitoring of climate actions in previous years

According to the Climate Act, the Government submits the Climate Report to Parliament on an annual basis. The Annual Climate Reports have been published since 2019.

2023

2022

2021 

2020 

2019