LAHTI REGION Environmental Review 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 3 GUIDED BY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 4 1 CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS 5 2 HEALTH, SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENTS 11 3 BIODIVERSITY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 13 4 QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF GROUNDWATER 16 5 WATER QUALITY AND RECREATIONAL AND NATURAL VALUES OF LAKES AND RIVERS 18 6 ENVIRONMENTAL COUNSELLING AND CITIZENS’ OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION 22 7 MUNICIPALITIES AND MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISES PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY THROUGHOUT THE REGION 24 8 ENVIRONMENTAL BALANCE SHEET 26 MORE INFORMATION 2 FOREWORD This is a joint environmental review of Lahti and the government to sign the MAL agreement on land Hollola for 2020. This review monitors a number of use, housing and transport. The negotiations were indicators that depict the condition of the environ- completed in spring 2021. The main goal of the MAL ment and possibilities for sustainable life. In 2020, agreement is to make everyday life easier – land use, the COVID-19 pandemic accentuated the importance housing and transport concern every resident and of a functional living environment with close access company in the region. The MAL agreement is also an to green areas for the local residents. The recrea- important building block for a carbon-neutral future. tional areas of the region became crowded at times. In the spirit of the European Green Capital year, As a leading climate city, Lahti is aiming for carbon the state of the environment will be monitored even neutrality by 2025. This report also shows a distinct more closely in the context of well-being and overall reduction in emissions towards the target level, as a sustainable development. At the same time, envi- result of years of systematic work to combat climate ronmental efforts will be made even more transpar- change. Since 2019, Hollola has also determinedly ent, as the monitoring of the indicators and climate worked to achieve its targets on carbon neutrality change combating measures of Lahti will be possible and energy efficiency. The internal climate policy for everyone online on the new Lahti Environmental prepares the ground for the future public climate Watch service. Both Lahti and Hollola are expecting a policy of Hollola, which will combine the goals, the lot from 2021, as Lahti’s year as the European Green measures to be implemented by the municipality, the Capital highlights the environmental work in the re- partnerships and the participatory measures. gion and puts it in the international spotlight. The Significant strategic development was promot- events of the Hollola Environmental Year are part of ed, as the region continued its negotiations with the celebrations. Pekka Timonen Päivi Rahkonen Mayor of Lahti Mayor of Hollola 3 GUIDED BY ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY The strategy summarised as ‘Lahti – a bold envi­ The environmental efforts of Lahti were also ronmental city’ is implemented through key pro- recognised internationally, as Lahti made the CDP’s jects as well as programmes and plans. In 2020, the list of the world’s leading climate cities for the sec- environmental goals included in the strategy were ond time. In addition, Mayor Pekka Timonen was promoted by means such as a key project on sus- recognised by the French Institut de l’Économie tainable mobility. Early in the year, the City Board Positive for his work for the environment. The moni- adopted Lahti’s carbon sink and compensation plan, toring and transparency of environmental work which promotes the City’s carbon neutrality goal for were further improved in October 2020, when Lahti 2025. The Green City Lahti action plan was prepared launched the new Lahti Environmental Watch ser- to concretise the contents of the City strategy. vice for real-time monitoring of the measures being The municipality of Hollola is implementing the implemented. The service can be found at www.lah- goal set by the Municipality Council to reduce green- denymparistovahti.fi. house gas emissions by 80% by 2030. The reduction The ‘Many Natures of Hollola’ theme highlights concerns the entire Hollola area, and the municipality the diversity of nature and the importance of recre- is inviting all local operators to participate in climate ational areas, which have been emphasised in these work. challenging times. The recreational values of local In November, Lahti City Board approved the ac- nature and waters are being fostered and improved, cession of the city to the 2020 EU Green City Ac- similar to previous years. We take care of the envi- cord. It is an initiative to make cities greener, cleaner ronment as it takes care of us. and healthier by 2030, through means focusing on air quality, noise, water, biodiversity of nature and the circular economy. 4 1 CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY AND EMISSIONS Lahti and Hollola one step closer to carbon neutrality Lahti is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2025 and Hollola by 2030, similar to the other municipalities in the HINKU network. The latest emission calcula- tions of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) for 2018 show a slight increase from 2017 (Lahti 733,4 kilotons CO2e, Hollola 171,2 kilotons CO2e), as emissions from electricity production increased throughout the country. However, over a longer time span, emissions have decreased significantly in Lahti and Hollola alike. Lahti’s own emission calcu- lations for 2019 already show a considerable drop, and according to the preliminary data for 2020, Lahti has reduced its emissions by more than 70% compared to the reference year 1990. In the years to come, climate work in Lahti will in- creasingly focus on controlling traffic emissions, im- proving the energy efficiency of buildings, promot- ing sustainable separate heating and circulation economy solutions, and safeguarding carbon sinks. The cross-administrative climate working group of Please note: The emissions figures for Lahti and Hollola coordinates the climate work in the munici- Hollola are not directly comparable, because they are pality, encouraging the personnel and residents to based on different calculation models. participate in the work. Environmental contact per- References: Hollola, SYKE, ALas calculation model; sons have been appointed to support the working Lahti, Kasvener 2019 and preliminary data for 2020, group as broadly and concretely as possible. which is based on Lahti Energy’s fuel data. preliminaryLahti’s greenhouse gas emissions Co2 e, 1000t data (production-based)2020 preliminary 2019data 20172020 19902019 20170 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1990 Separate electricity generation District heating power plants District heating plants 0Separate heating of buildings200 District 400heating and process power600 plants Process800 power plants 1000 1200 OtherSeparate industry electricity generation IndustrialDistrict heating processes power plants OtherDistrict fuel heating use (agriculture plants and forestry) AgricultureSeparate heating of buildings WasteDistrict management heating and process power plants TransportProcess power plants Other industry Industrial processes Other fuel use (agriculture and forestry) Agriculture Waste management Transport Hollola’s greenhouse gas emissions Co2 e, 1000t (consumption-based) 2018 20152018 20122015 20092012 20062009 0 50 100 150 200 250 2006Electiricity use Electric heating District heating Oil heating Other heating Industry Industrial machinery 0Road transport Rail transport50 Water transport100 Agriculture Waste management150 F-gases 200 250 Electiricity use Electric heating District heating Oil heating Other heating Industry Industrial machinery Road transport Rail transport Water transport Agriculture Waste management F-gases 5 Average winter air temperatures in Lahti, Carbon dioxide emissions from 1962–2020Lahti talven ilman keskilämpötila 1962-2020 energy production decreased 2 significantly 0 In 2020, fossil carbon dioxide emissions 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 -2 from Lahti Energy’s production activities -4 were at a record low, as coal was no longer -6 used as fuel for heat generation and natu- -8 ral gas was used to a very small extent. The -10 Kymijärvi III biothermal power plant produced -12 district heating throughout the heating sea- -14 Wintertalven keskiarvo average Linear (talven(winter keskiarvo) average) son 2019–2020, but the plant was officially started up for commercial use in April 2020. Small-scale production of energy, electricity in particular, also continued to grow. Lahti En- ergy and Oomi Energy supported the growth of low-scale production with their sales and marketing efforts. Oomi Energy, established in 2020, is an affiliate of Lahti Energy. Lahti Energy considerably increased the proportion of wind power in procured elec- tricity via its cooperative energy producers. The amount of wind power electricity in- creased by 18 per cent compared to 2019. Lahti Energy continued to invest in the prof- itable production of renewable energy. It committed itself to one wind power plant project that will be completed within the next two years. Via its cooperative energy producers, Lahti Energy is currently involved in three wind power plant projects. Similar to previous years, ash generated in energy production was used for purposes such as excavation work, stabilisation and fertilisation. Further use was also found for the ash generated by the new Kymijärvi III plant. Essential importance of residents’ environmental choices Supply of and demand for electric cars con- tinued to increase in 2020. In particular, the demand