City of Espoo the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan

The City of Espoo has done climate work for several years. The city joined the Covenant of Mayors in 2010 and at that time set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions per inhabitant by 28% from the 1990 level by 2020. The goal was already achieved in 2016, and in 2017 the Espoo City Council set the ambitious goal of making the city carbon neutral by 2030.

In October 2015, the European Commission published a new Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. The cities involved in the covenant aim for at least a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

The Espoo City Board unanimously decided on the city’s accession to the new Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and in February 2018, Espoo City Mayor Jukka Mäkelä signed the covenant. Joining the covenant requires the preparation of a Sustainable Energy & Climate Action Plan (SECAP).

The City of Espoo’s sustainable growth and carbon neutrality goals are stricter than the requirements of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. The carbon-neutral goal is defined in Espoo as an absolute emission reduction of 80% from the 1990 level by 2030. In 1990, Espoo’s greenhouse gas emissions were 1224 kt Co2-eq. The emissions in Espoo according to the 2030 goal would be 245 kt CO2-eq.

The main goal of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is to reduce emissions through measures to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable forms of energy. The calculation of the sustainable energy and climate action plan covers all energy-based emissions from the city’s buildings and operations, service buildings and operations, residential buildings and street lighting. In addition, emissions from traffic and waste management are included in the calculation. Industrial emissions are excluded from the calculation.

In order to achieve the set goal, the City of Espoo will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions with 60 measures, which are divided into sets of measures. The sets of measures cover the sectors according to the SECAP emission calculation.

Measures aimed at reducing electricity consumption, district heating and traffic emissions are particularly significant in terms of the realisation of the emission reduction target. Key emission reduction measures are the joint agreement between the City of Espoo and Fortum on carbon-neutral district heat production by 2030, the utilisation of waste heat, and the Otaniemi geothermal project. Transport emissions are reduced by directing the city’s growth towards good public transport connections and by developing rail transport and emission-free bus transport. With the identified mitigation measures, the city of Espoo’s emissions will be reduced by approximately 75% from the 1990 level.

In order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the city also identifies additional control measures to achieve the emission reduction of approximately 60 kt CO2 equivalent missing from the realisation of the carbon neutrality goal. The model of the five city centres of the City of Espoo offers numerous opportunities for the planning and implementation of new additional containment measures.

In contrast to the previous Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, the new covenant also includes a section focusing on adaptation to climate change. In accordance with the requirements of the covenant, the city must assess the climate risks that threaten it, prepare an analysis of vulnerabilities, carry out an overview of the situation of adaptation and identify adaptation measures.

In Espoo, the analysis of risks and vulnerabilities was prepared using Indicator-Based Vulnerability Assessment (IBVA). The most significant climate risks in Espoo are floods, heavy rains and extreme heat. Particularly vulnerable areas in Espoo are densely built old residential areas that were designed and built before modern stormwater planning or cooling solutions. The social and health sector was identified as a sector where the challenges of adapting to climate change will increase in the future.

The work of adapting to climate change is carried out in Espoo in close cooperation with other municipalities and actors in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. In the Helsinki Metropolitan Area’s adaptation strategy, several adaptation measures have been defined, which are divided into eight priority areas. Adaptation work is promoted in the city by an adaptation work group, and its effectiveness is monitored with the help of adaptation work indicators developed by HSY.

In accordance with the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy obligations, the implementation of the SECAP action plan is reported to the CoM's office. The situation of the mitigation measures is reported every two years, and the emission calculations and the results of the measures (energy saving and emission reduction) are reported every four years The Environment Department is responsible for reporting according to the Covenant of Mayors.