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Goals and actions in the city's climate work

Aerial photo of the harbor and center of Lappeenranta on a sunny summer day.

In Lappeenranta, diligent and ambitious climate work has been carried out already for several years. The City of Lappeenranta also actively cooperates with other cities and participates in the work of Finnish and international networks. Cities play a crucial role in decreasing climate emissions and adapting to climate change because they are often able to make decisions faster than states. 

Nature trail going in the middle of trees.

The city's climate actions

The City of Lappeenranta does diverse actions for climate and a comfortable living environment.

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Six people on the stage smiling to each other.

Awards and recognitions

Lappeenranta has received multiple awards and recognitions for the city's climate work. The awards have been both national and international.

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Cooperation with local actors

The City of Lappeenranta actively works with actors from the region to reach climate neutrality.

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Lappeenranta aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. Carbon neutrality means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks. Carbon sinks remove carbon from the atmosphere. The most important natural carbon sinks are soil, forests and oceans.

The City of Lappeenranta is also committed to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. In Lappeenranta, efforts are being made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in areas such as transport, sustainable public procurement and construction.

The programmes are tools that describe the city's goals in climate and nature work. They also present ways to achieve the goals.

Climate City Contract 

With the Climate City Contract, and the city's climate program, the City is committed to combat climate change. The program consists of concrete actions, which help in achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. In addition to the actions, climate risks and vulnerabilities are included in the program.

The newest Climate Programme is for the years 2021–2030. It has been renewed with the Climate City Contract used by the European Union's climate-neutral and smart cities.

The contract can be found here.

Lappeenranta is an active participant in climate and environmental networks. In networks, good experiences and methods are shared and utilized. Cooperation and networking are ways to influence climate-friendly work both locally and internationally.

Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

The Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (CoM) is an initiative of the European Commission aiming for emission reduction. The initiative highlights the possibilities of cities in decreasing carbon emissions.  Cities that sign up for the CoM make a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, which includes the key actions for achieving emission reduction goals. The Climate Program of Lappeenranta has been made with these principles. Lappeenranta signed up for the CoM in 2016.

European Business and Innovation Centre Network

The European Business and Innovation Centre is a global community that uses innovative business as a driver for regional development. Members of the network aim to promote wellbeing in local regions by entrepreneurial innovations. 

European Green Leaf Network

In the European Green Leaf Network, past and present European Green Leaf winner cities discuss best practices, challenges and possible solutions with each others. The Network is chaired by the European Commission, and the European Green Leaf is an award of the European Commission. 

Finnish Sustainable Communities

The Finnish Sustainable Communities (Fisu) is a network of Finnish pioneer municipalities. The network is aiming for zero emissions, no waste and globally sustainable consumption by 2050. Besides Lappeenranta, 11 other municipalities are part of the network.

Green City Accord

Green City Accord is an initiative by the European Commission for cities to become greener, cleaner and healthier places. The initiative has five policy areas: air quality, water management, nature and biodiversity, circular economy and waste management, and noise reduction. 

Hinku Network

The Hinku Network is for pioneers of climate change mitigation. It gathers together municipalities that are committed to ambitious emission reductions. Specialists from the energy and climate sector and companies offering climatefriendly products and services are also part of the network.

International Cleantech Network

The International Cleantech Network (ICN) gathers together the world's leading cleantech regions. The Network aims to genereate new business opportunities. The regional energy and environmental Greenreality Network coordinated by the City of Lappeenranta is a member of ICN.

Local Governments for Sustainability

Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) globally develops and coordinates activities related to sustainable urban development. It promotes cities' resource-efficiency, biodiversity, carbon neutrality and resiliency as well as well-being in society.

NetZeroCities

NetZeroCities is a project of the European union designed to assist cities to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. In addition, cities selected for the project act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050.