Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government intends to eliminate the compulsory requirement for municipalities to formulate climate plans, an obligation initiated just months ago. The Ministry of the Environment estimates this change will result in annual savings of 2.8 million euros.
Just last month Yle reported that the government's preliminary budget suggests some 70 million euros would be cut from the 2024 state's environment and nature protection budget, a 36 percent decrease on this year's figure.
Despite the government's intention to remove the legal requirement for local authorities' climate plans, more than 60 Finnish municipalities are forging ahead with their environmental initiatives.
According to the requirement — approved by Sanna Marin's (SDP) government in October 2022 — municipal climate plans must include specific targets and actions tailored to each municipality's emission reduction goals. Additionally, municipalities are required to establish metrics for tracking the effectiveness of these measures.
Miia Berger, a specialist at the Ministry of the Environment, said that 2.6 million euros in funding was allocated to municipalities during the initial application round this spring. This funding was distributed among 20 individual municipalities and nine joint projects involving multiple municipalities.
Now, the ministry is scheduled to draft the legislative proposal to abolish the climate planning obligation, which will be presented to parliament next year. It is unlikely that additional funding for climate planning will be granted by the ministry, but this will not affect the funding municipalities have already received.
According to the ministry's data, climate plans have been formulated in a total of 70 municipalities so far.
"Previously, larger cities and municipalities have been active in developing climate plans. This year, 63 municipalities, primarily smaller and medium-sized ones, are taking action," said Berger.
