Environmental protection – Mitigation

Article

Environmental permits and influencing their content are one of the most significant means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The municipal environmental authority can tighten the requirements of the permit applied from it with respect to emissions into the air.

The environmental industry has a major role in mitigating climate change

For the municipalities' environmental protection industry that aims to promote environmental protection in the municipality's area, climate change poses a challenge. In addition to the Municipalities' Environmental Protection Management Act, the environmental protection of municipalities is governed by the Land Use and Building Act and Nature Conservation Act. The regulations emphasise the environment from the point of view of humans. A municipality must guarantee a healthy living environment for its residents.

A local agenda is a municipality's long-term strategy to implement sustainable development. Using a range of strategies and systems, the themes in the local agenda can be deepened, and drawing up an environmental policy and system for the municipality promotes climate goals. A climate strategy or programme commits the different operators in a municipality for the long-term climate goals whose implementation should be monitored with suitable indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions.

Licensing is a functioning means for reducing emissions

In connection with permission issues decided by regional administrative agencies, a municipality's environmental committee has a possibility to issue a statement emphasising the significance of emissions into the air. In addition, a systematic monitoring of the permissions can reduce the emissions indirectly. It is possible to provide education for climate-favourable actions in connection with granting monitoring tasks and permissions.

Climate view to all decision-making in a municipality

All decision-making in a municipality should include the climate view and expertise. For example, decisions regarding zoning have a great, direct and indirect impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to improving domestic sorting of waste, environmental education and communication aimed at the local residents can promote energy conservation and increase energy efficiency. Environmental cooperation with schools has an impact on the students' environmental awareness and, through that, to favourable behaviour in the future with respect to the climate.

References [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Maankäyttö- ja rakennuslaki http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/smur/1999/19990132
Luonnonsuojelulaki http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/smur/1996/19961096
Laki kuntien ympäristönsuojelun hallinnosta http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/smur/1986/19860064
Kuntaliitto: Kuntien ilmastokampanja http://www.kunnat.net/fi/asiantuntijapalvelut/yty/ilmastonmuutos/ilmastokampanja/Sivut/default.aspx
Motiva Ltd: Energy Efficiency Agreements https://www.motiva.fi/en/public_sector/energy_efficiency_agreements

Checklist

Contracts and programmes: Has your municipality prepared or is it preparing a climate strategy or programme?

**Preparation of climate strategy or programme**
Strengths, factors in favour	Weaknesses, uncertainties	Costs, economic impacts
Commit municipal actors to long-term objectives.	Progress of strategies and programmes must be systematically monitored. Otherwise their benefits may not be attained.	+ Climate strategy can bring indirect cost-savings e.g. through energy conservation. An energy efficiency agreement brings direct savings.
Indicate concrete measures that facilitate the mitigation of climate change on the municipal level.	Setting of numeric objectives may prove challenging, both technically and politically.	- Costs may increase at least initially as investments are made.
		+/- Preparation of strategy and programmes, and their monitoring require efforts, even if the costs incurred are not high in the end.
		+ The government offers support for energy efficiency audits (40–50%) and energy saving investments implemented (15–20%).

Contracts and programmes: Has your municipality joined the municipal climate protection campaign launched by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities? If not, has your municipality calculated its greenhouse gas emissions, decided on goals for reducing emissions, and prepared a programme monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in another context?

**Joining the municipal climate protection campaign**
Strengths, factors in favour	Weaknesses, uncertainties	Costs, economic impacts
Commit municipal actors to long-term objectives.	Progress of strategies and programmes must be systematically monitored. Otherwise their benefits may not be attained.	+ Climate strategy can bring indirect cost-savings e.g. through energy conservation. An energy efficiency agreement brings direct savings.
Indicate concrete measures that facilitate the mitigation of climate change on the municipal level.	Setting of numeric objectives may prove challenging, both technically and politically.	- Costs may increase at least initially as investments are made.
		+/- Preparation of strategy and programmes, and their monitoring require efforts, even if the costs incurred are not high in the end.
		+ The government offers support for energy efficiency audits (40–50%) and energy saving investments implemented (15–20%).

Contracts and programmes: Has your municipality concluded an energy efficiency agreement with the MEE or joined the energy programme managed by Motiva Oy?

**Joining a climate protection campaign or energy programme; Preparation of energy efficiency agreement**
Strengths, factors in favour	Weaknesses, uncertainties	Costs, economic impacts
Commit municipal actors to long-term objectives.	Progress of strategies and programmes must be systematically monitored. Otherwise their benefits may not be attained.	+ Climate strategy can bring indirect cost-savings e.g. through energy conservation. An energy efficiency agreement brings direct savings.
Indicate concrete measures that facilitate the mitigation of climate change on the municipal level.	Setting of numeric objectives may prove challenging, both technically and politically.	- Costs may increase at least initially as investments are made.
		+/- Preparation of strategy and programmes, and their monitoring require efforts, even if the costs incurred are not high in the end.
		+ The government offers support for energy efficiency audits (40–50%) and energy saving investments implemented (15–20%).

Information and communication: Has the municipality issued instructions for operators in the region on how to develop activities so that they produce less emissions? Have households received sufficient guidance in everyday environmental protection?

**Instructions to operators; Instructing households – enhancing advisory services**
Strengths, factors in favour	Weaknesses, uncertainties	Costs, economic impacts
Relatively easy and inexpensive to implement.	Change in activity on voluntary basis, therefore not necessarily an efficient method.	+ In the long term, reduces costs for operators and households, e.g. waste management costs.
		+/- Changing everyday activities into a more environment-friendly direction does not require high investments.

Information and communication: Has the municipality issued instructions on the advance assessment of the climate impacts of decisions, and monitoring of the impacts of decisions made?

**Assessment of the climate impacts of decisions in advance and afterwards, and monitoring of the implementation of decisions**
Strengths, factors in favour	Weaknesses, uncertainties	Costs, economic impacts
The climate perspective must be mainstreamed, i.e. integrated with preparation and decision-making so that all municipal sectors and organs as well as all active in the municipality promote, with their actions, the objectives of mitigating and adapting to climate change.	Assessment of climate impacts involves complex systems (the socio-economic structures of society, climate system).	+ Assessment of the climate impacts of decisions in advance and afterwards, and well-organised monitoring of their implementation enhance the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of activity.
Assessment of the climate impacts of all significant decisions in advance and afterwards enhances political coheherence, i.e. promotes the coherence of objectives and decisions, so that various sectors send non-contradicting messages to those in charge of practical operations.	All impacts are not known or they involve scientific or other type of uncertainty.	+/- Assessment and monitoring require efforts, the costs of which, however, are low in comparison with the benefits to be gained in the long term.
Monitoring of the implementation of decisions made is the basic prerequisite for the effectiveness of measures and assessment thereof.	Relatively few impacts can be quantitatively assessed. However, qualitative assessments have a special, vital significance.

Environmental protection – Mitigation

The environmental industry has a major role in mitigating climate change

Licensing is a functioning means for reducing emissions

Climate view to all decision-making in a municipality

References

External links

Checklist

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