The City of Vaasa in Finland aims to be carbon-neutral by 2035. The vision of the City is “Vaasa, the Energy Capital of the North”. On 1st February 2016, the City Council approved the ambitious Energy and Climate Programme, which forms the basis of Vaasa’s climate actions. The city becoming carbon-neutral is one of the targets of this Programme, and this means that the city will give up fossil energy and replace it with renewable sources and emit only as much carbon dioxide as it binds into the atmosphere.
The implementation of the Energy and Climate Programme begun with a joint initial event of all key actors. In the future, energy and climate issues will be included in all City's activities, and the programme will be carried out both through projects and as part of everyday actions. The progress of the programme will be speeded up by participating as a member city in the Finnish Sustainable Communities network. Implementation of the Programme will be supported by communications that emphasise interaction and inclusive development activities with the inhabitants of the municipality and the City staff.
The EU-level Covenant of Mayors signed by the City of Vaasa also requires the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of the City’s own organisation. Vaasa’s actions will be checked and approved in the EU’s Joint Research Centre and results reported to the EU every two years.
Top-level energy know-how in Vaasa region encourages setting ambitious climate targets. The region is home to the most significant cluster of energy technologies in the Nordic countries, including more than 140 companies, many of which are global market leaders in their fields. Together, these companies employ 11,000 people, and their combined turnover amounts to a total of 4.4 billion euros, with 80% of this coming from exports. This represents 30% of the whole country’s energy technology exports.
Vaasa represents the educational, cultural and tourist centre of Western Finland, with about 67.600 inhabitants. Read more about climate work of Vaasa here.
