What is the role of sustainability in the 2023 Parliamentary Elections?

Good Morning,

The Finnish parliamentary elections are just around the corner. The election day is on the 2. of April, and advance voting is on March 22.–28. in Finland and 22.–25. abroad. In the upcoming weeks, Sustainability Roundup will take a closer look into Finnish parties' election platforms from a sustainability point of view.

The order of the parties follows the latest Yle poll published last week. This week's post focuses on where the two leading parties, The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and The Social Democratic Party (SDP), stand on sustainability.

The National Coalition Party election platform mentions sustainability issues in the context of energy, food production, and the use of natural resources. The platform does not have a distinct section about sustainability issues or environmental policy.

Regarding energy policy, the NCP platform mentions clean energy and 'harnessing the market economy to fight climate change.' Regarding clean energy, the platform refers to wind and solar power and calls for detaching Finland from Russian fossil energy. The NCP supports building more nuclear energy.

When it comes to emission reductions, the election platform argues for emission abatements that are implemented in a cost-efficient and technology-neutral manner on the market's terms. The NCP platform promises to tax climate emissions equally regardless of the source and highlights the adoption of new technologies and domestic innovations. They also underline the importance of preparing for the hydrogen energy economy.

Regarding biodiversity, the NCP election platform talks about defending biodiversity with an emphasis on local issues, such as protecting the Baltic Sea, Finnish waterways, forests, and wetlands. The platform also mentions the Forest Biodiversity Programme (METSO) and the Helmi habitats program.

The platform names one of its goals to improve the competitiveness of Finnish food production and mentions 'sustainably produced Finnish food' in this context. However, the platform does not go into more detail on what it means by sustainable food. 

The NCP platform prioritizes many of the party's traditional topics before sustainability, and the platform approaches sustainability issues mainly from a market-based perspective. In conclusion, the NCP's discussion about sustainability is not very cohesive.

The Social Democratic Party election platform deals with sustainability issues more extensively than the NCP. Different aspects of sustainability are mentioned, especially in the sections on future visions section and safety.

The future visions in the SDP platform subscribe to the national carbon-neutrality target by 2035. The platform emphasizes the importance of climate change and biodiversity loss mitigation, giving up fossil fuels and strengthening carbon sinks. The platform also mentions sustainable use of natural resources, clean industry, shifting to a sustainable, circular economy, and a just transition. The election platform suggests putting more effort into green industry policies.

As more concrete means, the SDP platform mentions the need for a clear legislative framework for nature policy and reforming the Forest Act.

Regarding energy policy, the platform calls for a rapid transition to renewable zero-emission energy forms and breaking away from Russian fossil energy swiftly and permanently. 

In their section about safety, the SDP platform brings up sustainable development goals by raising the Finnish development cooperation contribution to 0.7 % of GNI. The platform also mentions raising the level of ambition in the EU’s joint objectives in climate crisis solutions.

Although the core emphasis of the Social Democratic Party also lies in other topics than environmental policy, the party has started positioning itself more and more towards sustainability – at least in its platforms. In their 2023 election platform, the SDP dedicates 1 out of 6 chapters to discussing sustainability issues. 

Official summaries of the election platforms in English: the NCP & the SDP. 

Let's jump into this week's major headlines.

EU's Carbon Allowance (ETS) price development

UK's Carbon Allowance (ETS) price development

BBC | Ocean treaty: Historic agreement reached after decade of talks. The High Seas Treaty aims to help place 30% of the seas into protected areas by 2030, to safeguard and recuperate marine nature. High Seas refer to international waters where all countries have a right to fish, ship and do research - currently, only 1.2% of these waters are protected.

Yle | MOT found shortcomings in the auditing of the most common forest certificates. According to the investigation, buying products with PEFC certificates may not guarantee sustainable forestry practices in the supply chain.

Euronews | EU delays final vote on combustion engine ban, exposing growing dissent among member states. European Union member states decided on last Friday to postpone a vote to ratify an EU-wide ban on the sale of new combustion engine vehicles as of 2035, reflecting growing discontent over one of the central measures to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century.

The Guardian | Revealed: 1,000 super-emitting methane leaks risk triggering climate tipping points. More than 1,000 “super-emitter” sites gushed the potent greenhouse gas methane into the global atmosphere in 2022, mostly from oil and gas facilities. The worst single leak spewed the pollution at a rate equivalent to 67m running cars.

Reuters | Major copper producers unveil plan to reach net zero emissions by 2050. With copper demand forecast to double to 50 million tonnes by 2050 from 2020 levels, the International Copper Association's (ICA) roadmap released on Tuesday set a target for members to cut direct and indirect emissions by 30% to 40% by 2030, and by 70% to 80% by 2040, before reaching zero by 2050.

Aljazeera | Climate change to cost Germany up to $960bn by 2050, study finds. The analysis by the economic research company Prognos says the costs include declining farm yields, damage or destruction of buildings and infrastructure due to heavy rain and flooding, impairment of goods transport and impacts on the health system.

Reuters | Chinese cities see temperatures hit record high for early March. More than a dozen major Chinese cities have seen temperatures hit record seasonal highs this week, with central China's Wuhan and Zhengzhou at more than 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal for early March, official data showed. The country's weather bureau has already warned that it is facing another year of extreme weather in 2023 as a result of global climate change.

HS | Solar power has the potential to generate up to thousands of megawatts in Finland in the following years. In 2022, solar power had its breakthrough in residential buildings; this year, industrial solar power plants are expected to boom.

HS | Strategy on Climate and Nature causes discord in the government preceding the election break. The Strategy deals with conservation areas and the means to reduce biodiversity loss with support from the Greens and opposition from the Centre party, with the SDP on the fence.

Maaseudun Tulevaisuus | Small-scale climate acts in Finnish municipalities have  reduced costs. Moderate investing in energy efficiency and green energy reduces municipalities' emissions while generating savings. The high prices of fossil fuels partly explain this trend.

Yle | Nature organizations lobby for the biggest national park in Southern Finland. The Pirkanmaa Finnish Association for Nature Conservation proposes joining the Seitseminen and Helvetinjärvi national parks, currently located 20 kilometers apart. Connecting the two national parks would require conserving 11 000 hectares of state-owned forests, but belts of private-owned land inside the state forests have caused discord towards the conservation initiative.

Euronews | Europe’s longest cycle tunnel aims to cut traffic in Bergen, Norway. Its goal is to make it easier for more people to choose cycling and walking over driving, aiming to reduce traffic in the city, cut emissions and pollution.

Yle | Inflation makes it harder for consumers to buy sustainable products. Three out of four Finns say that the price of ecological products is in the way of more sustainable consumption choices, according to Visa and STRAT7 Group study.

Reuters | Canada issues guidelines for banks to manage climate-change risks. Banks will need to be prepared to maintain operations during climate-related disasters, include the impact of climate change on its liquidity risk profile, tie executive compensation with dealing with such risks, among other requirements.

Reuters | Mercedes-Benz begins building battery recycling factory in southern Germany. The pilot plant will have an annual capacity of 2500 tonnes and will contribute to the production of more than 50,000 battery modules for new electric Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

Finnwatch | Report: Human rights violations detected in the supply chains of Alko wines produced in South Africa. 

STT | Circular economy innovation: Researchers at Tampere University are developing concrete buildings designed to be demolished and rebuilt on the existing concrete structure. The casting of new concrete is one of the most emission-intensive phases in construction.

STT | New study program in sustainable forestry starts at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences next fall. The program focuses on protecting biodiversity and maintaining carbon sinks from a forestry perspective.

Pioneering study shows flood risks can still be considerably reduced if all global promises to cut carbon emissions are kept. The study, led by the University of Bristol and global water risk modelling leader Fathom at the University of Bristol, reveals the first-ever dataset to assess flood hazard using the most recent Met Office climate projections which factor in the likely impact of climate change. Its findings show the forecasted annual increase in national direct flood losses, defined as physical damage to property and businesses, due to climate change in the UK can be kept below 5% above recent historical levels. But this is only on the proviso that all countries fulfil the ambitious pledges they signed up to at COP26 and also that countries, including the UK, which made further Net Zero commitments, actually achieve these on time and in full. (Science Daily).

New process extracts silicon from solar panels to build better batteries. Researchers have developed a sustainable and highly lucrative way to address two big issues in the clean energy transition, reclaiming one of the most valuable elements from end-of-life solar panels and reconfiguring it to build better batteries. Scientists from Deakin University's Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) have successfully tested a new process that can safely and effectively extract silicon from old solar panels, then convert it into a nano material worth more than $45,000 per kilo. This nano-silicon is then mixed with graphite to develop a new type of battery anode shown to increase lithium-ion battery capacity by a factor of 10, a critical breakthrough in energy storage technology. (Deakin University)

A wholly sustainable plastics economy is feasible. Plastic is everywhere. Our society cannot do without it: plastics have numerous advantages, are extremely versatile, and are also cost effective. Today, plastics are mainly produced from crude oil. When the products reach the end of their life, they often end up in a waste incineration plant. The energy-intensive production of plastics and their incineration release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, making plastic products a major contributor to climate change. A new study by ETH Zurich shows what it will take for the plastics industry to become completely sustainable: lots of recycling combined with the use of CO2 from the air and biomass. It is also the image of plastics that need to change. (Science Daily)

Picture of the week: 

Ocean area under protection before and after the High Seas Treaty