Municipal climate emissions continue to decline briskly due to the clean-up of the energy sector

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.

“As emissions from the energy sector decline, the importance of other sources of emissions, such as road transport, machinery and agriculture, is emphasised. In the future, more attention should be paid to reducing emissions in these sectors so that municipalities, regions and Finland would achieve their emissions targets,” says Jari Rantsi, Senior Coordinator at the Finnish Environment Institute.

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.

Energy sector cleaning up fast

The use of coal and peat decreased in the energy sector, which contributed to a reduction in district heating emissions. The increase in wind power production capacity and nuclear power production significantly decreased the emission intensity of electricity production in Finland.

Emissions from road transport decreased by around three per cent compared to the previous year. This was due to reduced road transport performance, a slight increase in the share of biofuels in transport fuels and the electrification of vehicles.

Emissions fell in all regions

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.

Emission information service reformed

 Hiilineutraalisuomi.fi, where the emission information service is located, was reformed in May 2025. Its new address is hiilineutraalisuomi.syke.fi/en/.

The data from the emissions calculations is openly available to all at:

The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) annually calculates the amount of use-based climate emissions for all Finnish municipalities, regions and ELY areas. Emissions are calculated for all municipalities using a uniform calculation method that complies with international guidelines.

• Emission information service
• Emission calculation method (in Finnish)
• Report: Calculation of greenhouse gas emissions from Finnish municipalities, methodological description of the ALas model and calculation results 2005–2018
• Scenario tool for greenhouse gas emissions for municipalities (in Finnish)
  
  

Further information

• Jari Rantsi, Senior Coordinator, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 1274, firstname.lastname@syke.fi
• Santtu Karhinen, Senior Research Scientist, Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 1889, firstname.lastname@syke.fi
• Eija Ferreira, Senior Research Scientist (oil and other sources of separate heating), Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 2227, firstname.lastname@syke.fi
• Juha Grönroos, Senior Research Scientist (Agriculture), Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 29 525 1128, firstname.lastname@syke.fi
• Markus Niemelä, Coordinator (F-gases), Finnish Environment Institute, tel. +358 50 441 1068, firstname.lastname@syke.fi