Finland well on track to meet its Kyoto goals
Lehtikuva / Matti Björkman Finland and the entire EU are well on the Kyoto track. The situation is different what the media often claims, says Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki.According to the Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki Finland has started very well in meeting the obligations set by Kyoto Protocol. The national inventory report 2008 published by Statistics Finland indicates that Finland's green house emissions were about 1.2 per cent below the Kyoto obligations. Finland was under the Kyoto Protocol for the first time in 2008.
- Even the costs of climate politics aren't increasing during the Kyoto period to the scale, where the most radical estimations prognosticated then to rise, says Minister Lehtomäki.
Green house emissions have dropped by 10 per cent since the previous year. This has been influenced by the drop in energy consumption due to the recession, but according to Lehtomäki climate politics has had its impact on the positive change. A very effective means of reducing energy consumption has been the actual effectuation of the European Union emissions trading system in 2008.
The Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki considers the situation to be very good since Finland, alongside other European Union member countries, is on a so-called Kyoto track now, since the negotiations on the period after the signing of the Kyoto protocol are effectively pursued. The total emissions of the 15 initial European Union countries in 2007 were 5 per cent below those of 1990.
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