Finland released a new government programme in which it pledges to become a carbon neutral state by 2035 and the world’s first fossil fuel free welfare society. To secure carbon neutrality, the government is to revise the Climate Act. This coincides with another announcement last week by Chile, which also pledged to go carbon neutral by 2050.
The recently-appointed Finnish government’s programme, where carbon neutrality, sustainability and circular economy are overriding themes, follows a historical election where tackling climate crisis became the number one election topic.
According to Climate Barometer, a survey carried out ahead of the election, 70% of Finns wanted climate solutions to be among the next government’s priority themes.
The programme eyes increase of public spending by €1.23bn (£1.1bn) a year and another €3bn on one-off investments, notably in the rail network, over the four-year lifetime of the government.
Climate organizations welcomed the move by Finland.
It’s a good day for Finns! People demanded faster climate action and that’s what we’re going to get. Building the world’s first fossil free, sustainable society is going to require much more than nice words on paper, but we’re determined to make it happen. It’s an exciting journey we want to embark on,
…says Sini Harkki, Programme Manager of Greenpeace Nordic in Finland.
The government programme still needs to be formally approved by the Parties forming the government, namely the Social Democratic Party, the Center Party, the Greens, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People’s Party.
Meanwhile, ahead of World Environment Day on 5 June, Chile pledged to go carbon neutral by 2050, and close all of the 28 coal plants that exist in the country by 2040.
The announcement was made by Sebastian Piñera, the President of Chile, on 4 June 2019.
At least eight coal-fired plants will be closed by 2024, diminishing the share of coal in the electricity grid from 40% to 20% in five years.
Chile will host the COP25 UN climate talks in December.
I am very pleased by pledges by Finland and Chile to be carbon neutral by 2035 and 2050 respectively. I urge countries around the world to continue taking decisive and transformative #ClimateAction so we can tackle the climate emergency,
…commented António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN, in his official Twitter account following the announcements.