The municipal sector has great responsibility for mitigating climate change. Energy production and saving, and infrastructure and transport are areas where local authorities can significantly help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2005, around 15 per cent of the electricity demand in Finland was produced centrally by municipal power plants. The municipal share of district heating production was approximately 80 per cent and the yearly carbon dioxide emissions from the energy production of the twelve largest cities made up 15 per cent of the total emissions in Finland, tells Mr Kalevi Luoma, Energy Engineer at the Association.
Local authorities need to adapt to the changing climate also because they need to be prepared for unusual conditions to be able to provide services to residents in all situations. This requires long-term planning in the regulation of land use and in the construction and maintenance of municipal infrastructure.
In its new publication “Local Authorities and Climate Change”, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities emphasises the key role of local authorities in mitigating and adapting to climate change, and introduces some of the good practices that have been established throughout Finland. The publication looks at local authorities as energy producers and consumers, the principle of sustainable procurement and ways to limit urban sprawl and traffic growth.
The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities has, together with several Finnish local authorities, launched a national “Cities for Climate Protection” campaign. Good results have been achieved in the promotion of renewable energy and energy saving schemes, and in the field of waste management. Many local authorities are also participating in various national and/or EU research projects on preparing for and adapting to climate change.
With its long-term energy-saving efforts, the City of Tampere is one of the pioneers of climate protection on the local level. Tampere (200,000 inhabitants) is the third largest city in Finland. In 2005, the financial benefit of saving energy amounted to more than 2.5 million euros.