Espoo parishes become ISO 14001 certified as the first parish union in Finland

Espoo Parish Union is the first parish union in Finland to certify its environmental work in an industry-independent, internationally defined and impartial manner.

"We hope that our certification will raise awareness of the versatile environmental work done by parishes and make it more comparable with the work done in other industries," says Director Risto Hämäläinen.

Long-term work for the benefit of the environment

The creation of Espoo parishes' current environmental system began in 2019. At the time, it was decided to link the system to the international ISO 14001 standard. The package is comprised of an environmental policy and programme and local environmental plans for parishes. The achievement of targets is monitored annually in a separate environmental financial statement. The goals include, for example, carbon neutrality of properties by 2030.

The audit conducted in spring 2024 assessed, among other things, the management of environmental work, the environmental work of parishes, and the activities of properties, camp centres and the crematorium. The wastewater treatment plant maintained by the parish union was also audited. The forests owned by the parish union have already been  certified, in addition to which a total of approximately 200 hectares of forest has been conserved.

Same criteria as for industrial plants

According to main auditor Hannu Salminen, the long-term work has created a positive culture of environmental work.

"The personnel are genuinely committed to achieving the environmental targets. Environmental protection is also taken into account in the daily work; for example, the amount of food waste has been reduced", Salminen says.

Director Risto Hämäläinen explains that the environmental work conducted by Espoo parishes was assessed for the first time already in 2000.

"We have also been involved in the Church's own environmental diploma system, which has built a foundation for our current environmental work. We wanted to further develop the impact of our work, which is why we built our new environmental system in accordance with the widely known international ISO 14001 standard."

"The personnel and our multi-professional environmental working group have done a lot of work on environmental issues and obtaining the certificate, which is another reason for us to be so pleased about this. It is great to receive feedback that we are on the right path", Hämäläinen concludes.

Espoo Parish Union is the first parish union in Finland to certify its environmental work in an industry-independent, internationally defined and impartial manner.

"We hope that our certification will raise awareness of the versatile environmental work done by parishes and make it more comparable with the work done in other industries," says Director Risto Hämäläinen.

Long-term work for the benefit of the environment

The creation of Espoo parishes' current environmental system began in 2019. At the time, it was decided to link the system to the international ISO 14001 standard. The package is comprised of an environmental policy and programme and local environmental plans for parishes. The achievement of targets is monitored annually in a separate environmental financial statement. The goals include, for example, carbon neutrality of properties by 2030.

The audit conducted in spring 2024 assessed, among other things, the management of environmental work, the environmental work of parishes, and the activities of properties, camp centres and the crematorium. The wastewater treatment plant maintained by the parish union was also audited. The forests owned by the parish union have already been  certified, in addition to which a total of approximately 200 hectares of forest has been conserved.

Same criteria as for industrial plants

According to main auditor Hannu Salminen, the long-term work has created a positive culture of environmental work.

"The personnel are genuinely committed to achieving the environmental targets. Environmental protection is also taken into account in the daily work; for example, the amount of food waste has been reduced", Salminen says.

Director Risto Hämäläinen explains that the environmental work conducted by Espoo parishes was assessed for the first time already in 2000.

"We have also been involved in the Church's own environmental diploma system, which has built a foundation for our current environmental work. We wanted to further develop the impact of our work, which is why we built our new environmental system in accordance with the widely known international ISO 14001 standard."

"The personnel and our multi-professional environmental working group have done a lot of work on environmental issues and obtaining the certificate, which is another reason for us to be so pleased about this. It is great to receive feedback that we are on the right path", Hämäläinen concludes.