According to the Finnish Environment Institute, municipal greenhouse gas emissions have declined by around 9 per cent last year compared to 2022. The positive development is mainly due to cleaning up the energy sector, i.e., electricity and district heating production.
Consumer electricity emissions fell by as much as around 33 per cent and electric heating emissions by around 30 per cent. District heating emissions fell by around 18 per cent.
In the long term, emissions have declined by 37 per cent since 2005 and by 40 per cent since 1990. The development is therefore positive, but further efforts are needed to achieve both regional and national climate targets.
Total emissions of regions fell by 4–15 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, and per capita emissions were also on the decline. Regional emission reductions were accelerated by the clean-up of production in the energy sector, and particularly the reduction in emissions from electricity production.
Differences in regional emission reductions are fairly large. The differences are explained by factors such as the structure of the economy, especially agricultural dominance, geographical characteristics such as distances and urban structure, and differences in weather conditions and district heating fuel use.
