The IPCC climate report was published on Monday. HS asked the four parties what conclusions the next government should draw from it.
Climate warming emissions must be halved by the mid-2030s if we want to maintain even a small hope that global warming would remain below the somewhat safe 1.5 degrees.
This was the message of the intergovernmental climate panel IPCC when it published the summary of its sixth assessment report on Monday.
“If we act now, we can still secure a viable and sustainable future for everyone,” stated the chairman of the panel Hoesung Lee.
Currently, the earth is warming by more than three degrees by the end of the century. In northern regions such as Finland, the warming is at least double the average.
At the press conference, the Secretary General of the UN António Guterres appealed to developed countries to advance their carbon neutrality goals towards 2040.
Read more: IPCC: There are many ways to secure life on Earth if we act quickly
A state is carbon neutral when as many emissions are committed to its carbon sinks, such as growing forests, per year as the state releases them.
The goal recorded in Finland’s climate act is the year 2035. Guterres mentioned that some developed countries already have such a goal.
HS asked four parties for comments on the climate panel’s message. The three largest parties in the polls and the environment minister’s party, the Greens, were included.
Sdp: “This is also a matter of security of supply”
The Prime Minister’s Party On behalf of Sdp, the Minister of Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade commented on the report Ville Skinnari.
“The scientific evidence is very clear. Climate change is a threat to the well-being of people and nature, and actions are needed in all sectors,” says Skinnari.
Skinnari also sees giving up fossil energy sources and increasing the share of renewables as a path to self-sufficiency. There is no oil, coal or gas in Finland.
“This is also a matter of security of supply. We must be energy self-sufficient in terms of electricity and heat already in 2025.”
According to Skinnar, Finland’s climate works and technology are also attracting interest in the world. He has noticed that during his visits to India, for example.
“Now these solutions are starting to be put into practice.”
According to Skinnar, a balance must be sought in climate action in terms of ensuring that everyday living costs do not rise too much. On the other hand, he believes that technology will become cheaper and will bring export opportunities to Finland as well.
“Our companies are extremely committed to this,” says Skinnari.
“And this is currently one of the most in-demand businesses in the world, if you think about e-traffic or e-charging stations, for example. There are challenges, but they can be solved.”
Basic Finns: “First you have to help yourself”
Basic Finns Congressman Lulu Wrist states after watching the publication of the report, that “we do not lack these people calling for a state of emergency or ambitious goals”.
“We lack money and technology,” he says.
The main message of the basic Finns’ climate policy is that Finland should move its carbon neutral goal from 2035 to 2050, which is the EU’s general goal.
In Rante’s opinion, current technology does not make it possible to stay on schedule without it becoming too expensive for Finns’ wallets. In his view, there is too much faith in the possibilities of wind and solar power.
“As long as there is no regulatory power, this will not solve our problems.”
Regulating power refers to energy sources that can be used in those moments when, for example, wind and solar power are not available enough. Basic Finns supports drawing up a national nuclear power strategy and focusing on Finland’s own interests.
“In order to even at some point help others, you have to help yourself first,” says Ranne.
“The transition to low emissions must be implemented on such a schedule that the money is sufficient.”
Ranne also brings up the world’s population growth, the environmental consequences of which, in his opinion, are talked about too little.
However, Ranne is not in favor of Finland trying to influence the decline in the birth rate in countries where the number of children is still high. According to studies, the birth rate is decreasing with the rise in living standards and the education of girls.
“It’s one big issue that needs to be affected together, Finland can’t solve it alone either,” says Ranne.
Read more: Population explosion cancelled? The end of population growth is in sight even in those regions of the world that are used to being associated with large families
Coalition: “Finland is a clean energy superpower”
The coalition the chairman of the parliamentary group Kai Mykkänen thinks the IPCC report further underlines Finland’s need to specialize in the creation and export of green technology.
“Our central task in the next election period is to make Finland a clean energy superpower,” says Mykkänen.
In Mykkänen’s opinion, it is possible for Finland to multiply its emission-free electricity production.
“It requires more than wind power, also new nuclear power projects,” he says.
In the coalition’s vision, clean energy attracts industry based on it to Finland. For example, the chemical industry and the steel industry want to switch to cleaner production methods.
In the opinion of the coalition, in addition to reducing emissions and carbon sinks, Finland should also talk about the so-called climate handprint. It refers to the climate-saving effect of technologies and products exported from Finland to the world.
“What we can really do to influence the way the world is going is that Finland acts as a basis for emission-free economy solutions, which can then be replicated.”
Mykkänen does not subscribe to the view of basic Finns that the technology required by the green transition does not yet exist.
“Fortunately, they are wrong,” says Mykkänen.
“Currently, we already have a situation where wind power has practically overtaken all fossil fuels in Finland’s electricity production. That alone is not enough, but it shows that technology is developing tremendously.”
The Greens: “Wind power has saved us from the worst”
The greens Chairman, Minister of Environment and Climate Maria Ohisalon according to the main message of the report is that “climate change is proceeding far too fast”.
The climate has already warmed 1.1 degrees compared to pre-industrial times, and according to the report, the warming is currently continuing beyond the target limits.
“Perhaps the biggest alarm bell here is that the decided or even planned actions are not enough to curb the warming to one and a half or even two degrees,” says Ohisalo.
The threshold of one and a half degrees is being exceeded by 2040.
According to Ohisalo, the “silver lining” of the report was the increase in the potential of wind and solar power. Technology has depreciated faster than many could expect. The report also looked for hope in strengthening nature’s carbon sinks.
In Finland, the carbon sink has been shrinking for the past ten years. The reasons for this are the increase in deforestation and the slowdown in the growth of pine forests.
“Our own situation is that the sink has collapsed and the next government’s big climate policy question will be whether to make a rescue package for the sinks and what measures will be included in it,” says Ohisalo.
Ohisalo believes that technical carbon dioxide recovery will also be discussed. “Technological sinks still do not replace a more natural sink, i.e. how our forests are doing.”
Like Mykkänen, Ohisalo believes that Finland’s climate measures will attract investments and jobs to Finland. In his opinion, Finland’s already implemented climate measures were an asset during the past energy crisis winter.
“Wind power has in many ways saved us from the worst energy crisis right now.”
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