Last year, municipal greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 7.4 percent from the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke). Emissions from electricity use fell the most, by more than 20 percent.
The reasons included the shift from fossil fuels to wind power as well as the weather: 2020 was warmer, so electricity consumption for heating was lower.
Emissions from road traffic also decreased in almost all Finnish municipalities. In addition to the increasing use of electric and hybrid vehicles, the pandemic reduced driving.
Emissions only rose in five of Finland's 309 municipalities, including the northern city of Tornio.
The decline in greenhouse gas emissions has continued since 2005, except for a couple of years. During this period, the reduction has been around 24 percent.
"No room for complacency"
So, is a drop of more than seven percent a good or modest year, since the pandemic and mild weather helped to curb emissions?
"A very good question, and there's no unequivocal answer to it. But 7.4 is a good decrease, because even in this exceptional year, society did not come to a complete halt," said Santtu Karhinen, a senior research scientist at Syke.
According to Karhinen, it remains to be seen whether road traffic will return to pre-pandemic levels and how the replacement of the nation's vehicle fleet with cleaner vehicles will affect emissions. Rail traffic looks set to grow from last year, as does passenger ship traffic.
Karhinen points out that emissions from electricity production are still falling, district heating is shifting away from fossil fuels, energy efficiency is improving in road transport and the proportion of electric and hybrid vehicles is on the rise.
"If we can continue on this path, we'll be fine. But there's no room for complacency – we must continue to work hard to achieve our national climate goals," Karhinen told Yle. Finland has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2035.
In 2020, road transport accounted for 26 percent of municipal climate emissions, agriculture for 20 percent, district heating for 15 percent and electricity consumption for 11 percent.
Syke's emissions calculation system, known as Hinku, includes emissions that can be directly or indirectly affected by local authorities. As a result, most emissions from industry and transport, such as bus and freight traffic, are missing from the calculations.
Pyhäjoki boasts biggest drop
Pyhäjoki in Northern Ostrobothnia boasted the largest cut in emissions, when the so-called wind power compensation is included.
Wind power construction is still in its infancy in the municipality, and Mayor Matti Soronen believes that the figures will look even better in the coming years.
Work is also being done in other sectors, and in strong agriculture and forestry, for example, according to Soronen, there is room for significant improvement.
Per-capita greenhouse gas emissions also vary greatly between regions.
The lowest per capita emissions are in the southern provinces, while the highest have long been in Southern and Central Ostrobothnia in western Finland.
There emissions remain high due to agriculture, which has not been able to cut its emissions like other sectors. Another factor explaining emissions in Southern Ostrobothnia, is the burning of peat, which is still provides a large portion of district heating. There will be sharp emission reductions in the future, but there is another side to it.
"Here, too, it must be borne in mind that peat extraction is linked to livelihoods. It is not simple to try to reduce emissions while at the same time trying to take care of employment and the vitality of each municipality," said Karhinen.