The City of Turku will present a perspective of a city doing active climate actions. The Mayor of the City of Turku participates in the conference upon the invitation of the presiding country Chile and the United Nations. The representants of the City of Turku also take part in the Finnish delegation.
The City of Turku encourages to make climate policy that follows the research findings
We have managed to cut the emissions in the region of Turku by about 30 % from the level in the 1990s. The population and the economy of the city have grown significantly in the same time. The City of Turku aims to be carbon neutral in 2029 when the city will celebrate its 800th anniversary. From that date, the goal is to be a climate-positive urban area that emits more carbon than it produces.
The climate work of the City of Turku is based on the climate plan that was approved unanimously by the City Council in 2018. The objectives and the measures of the climate plan are in line with those of the international scientific community, and the city makes strong use of the science and the interaction with the scientists in the planning of the climate policy, for example via the Turku Urban Research Programme.
The attainments of the City of Turku arise international interest
The climate actions implemented by the City of Turku, a convincing climate plan and the climate policy as well as the active engagement in international networks are some of the reasons explaining why the representants of Turku have received several requests to speak. The representants of the City of Turku have not had the opportunity to answer to all requests to speak. There are almost a dozen speeches and participations at various sittings during the conference.
- The climate actions of the City of Turku attract a lot of attention within international contexts. We are happy to share our experiences while learning about the work of the others. The climatic challenge concerns the whole world and sharing wisdom and good practices are crucial for finding solutions, says the Mayor of the City of Turku, Minna Arve.
Arve will emphasize in her speeches the common responsibility of all to follow the research results and to take appropriate climate policies and measures. She will also emphasize the positive effects of the climate actions from the perspectives of the welfare and the economy. The growth of the economy and the reduction of the emissions have not been contradicting each other among the goals. Arve also aims to highlight Finland’s ambitious climate target to be carbon neutral already in 2035.
- I want to bring the Finnish perspective to the international discussion on emissions, and at the same time emphasize that a good climate policy and the reduction of emissions are not obstacles to prosperity and economic success, but vice versa. Reducing emissions and taking the environment into consideration are conditions of the welfare in the future, says Mayor Minna Arve.
The climate plan of the City of Turku for the year 2029 follows the common European model according to which the city will report on its climate actions yearly to the UN and every second year to the European Commission. Since 2020 the City of Turku reports to the United Nations also on the implementation of the objectives of the sustainable development as one of the first cities in the world.