Espoo and 25 partners work together towards carbon neutrality

The City of Espoo and 25 partners have signed a commitment to work towards a carbon-neutral city by 2030. The Climate City Contract is part of the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, which the European Commission selected Espoo to implement in 2022. The commitment includes a wide range of companies, research institutes and universities from Espoo’s award-winning innovation community.

- The Espoo community has the expertise, ambition and courage needed in climate work. Our strength is the unique community, together with which we can find the necessary solutions for reducing the carbon footprint and increasing the handprint. The joint commitment to a carbon-neutral city in this decade is an opportunity to further intensify cooperation, says Mayor Jukka Mäkelä.

The signatories to the commitment have recognised their role as part of Espoo’s carbon neutrality journey. The actions of the transport, energy, construction and circular economy actors involved will significantly reduce emissions generated in the Espoo area during the decade. The companies, universities and research institutes develop research-based high-tech solutions that will also help reduce emissions elsewhere in Europe and globally. 

Espoo’s emissions have been declining for a long time despite the city’s strong growth. Growing and developing along rail transport routes, Espoo is an excellent place for testing and introducing new energy, transport and construction solutions to reduce emissions.

- We are happy to join the City of Espoo’s Climate City Contract. We are very much committed to reducing emissions during construction on our sites, all of which boast net-zero emissions. The lifecycle carbon footprint of SRV’s lifecycle-wise buildings is 60% lower than that of a typical building. Besides reducing the carbon footprint, we also want to increase the positive carbon handprint. Our yard design, for example, considers the diverse urban nature, says Miimu Airaksinen, Senior Vice President for development at SRV.

The energy transition is proceeding at a rapid pace. Fortum is committed to producing carbon-neutral district heating in Espoo during the 2020s and to phase out coal by 2025.

After heating, the largest sources of emissions are traffic and electricity consumption, which is projected to increase significantly by the end of the decade due to the city’s growth and the electrification of heat production and traffic. Espoo is ahead of the rest of the country in promoting decentralised electricity production and electric transport. Espoo features over 2,500 solar electricity producers and more than 13,000 rechargeable cars. Of all first registrations, 60% were all-electric and hybrid cars. Rapid development also requires increasing the capacity of the electricity network.

- Caruna is committed to building energy self-sufficient Finland and ensuring the reliable distribution of electricity as electricity consumption increases, and we transition from fossil to renewable energy. An energy transition cannot take place without electricity distribution networks. We signed to the commitment because only through cooperation can we achieve Espoo’s ambitious climate goals in an ever-denser urban environment, says Joel Seppälä, Regional Manager at the electricity network company Caruna.

Espoo’s role in the EU mission for climate-neutral cities is to act as the centre of experimentation and innovation for solutions to enable all European cities to achieve the climate targets by 2050. The selected cities are united by their readiness to carry out development work with extensive local cooperation and reduce emissions on a fast schedule. The aim is to ensure that the climate actions strengthen Espoo’s vitality and attractiveness.

“We need to reach the finish line together” – the mayor of Espoo invites to join the climate cooperation (27 March 2023)

About Espoo climate emissions: Energy crisis increased Espoo’s emissions temporarily – per capita emissions still lowest in Helsinki Metropolitan Area (29 May 2023)

Manager for Sustainable Development Helena Kyrki
helena.kyrki@espoo.fi
puh. +358 43 8248661