Finland’s six largest cities commit to slow down climate change

Finland’s six largest cities have established Mayors’ Climate Change Network, intended to help mitigate climate change and to help the cities adjust to climate change.

The mayors of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu signed the new network’s founding document on February 15, 2011. They will be inviting other cities to join the network, which will meet twice a year.

The network will seek new means to promote low-carbon city practices, and it will establish shared best practices. Possible joint projects are related to increased use of renewable energy, new energy efficiency requirements for buildings, and promoting low-carbon vehicles. The first concrete measures will be announced in the autumn of 2011.

Cooperation in climate issues at the mayoral level is seen necessary in a national action plan, which recommends that the biggest cities set an example to other Finnish municipalities in sustainable and carbon-neutral energy solutions. Another goal of the action plan is to encourage Finnish cities to sign the international Covenant of Mayors climate treaty, which commit participating cities to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 20 percent by 2020.

The first chairman of the network is Tampere Mayor Timo P. Nieminen, and the City of Tampere will operate the network secretariat in the first phase of operations.