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Le salon du Bourget s'éveille tout doucement. Les stands sont toujours autant vides, côté Français
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On 6 March 2015, the Finnish Parliament passed the Finnish Climate Change Act (FCCA), the first of its kind in Finland. Pro-environmental organisations and political parties generally heralded the act as a symbolic success, as it enshrines the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. However, the act has also been described as relatively unambitious[1], given that it focuses mainly on administrative procedures and monitoring and does not require, for example, interim carbon budgets – a specific amount of carbon dioxide equivalent that can be emitted over a 5-year period, a key aspect of the related UK Climate Change Act.[2] The FCCA thus reflects Finland’s role as a follower, rather than leader, on climate change in Europe. But does this ‘backbench approach’ reflect the attitudes of the Finns or merely of their political elite? In this post, we consider to what extent the FCCA is in line with climate policy preferences among the Finnish public. Drawing on nationally representative survey data from the Finnish Climate Barometer 2015[3], we focus on the design of the Act, as well as the public’s preferences for Finland’s role in international climate change politics.

Climate Change in the Finnish Mind

A good starting point to gauge general attitudes towards climate change is how concerned people are about the issue. In the Finnish Climate Barometer survey, 69% of the Finnish population indicated that they were either concerned or very concerned about climate change (Figure 1). This finding squares with a 2014 Eurobarometer survey on climate change where, compared to other European countries, nearly a quarter of the Finnish population ranked climate change as the ‘single most serious problem facing the world as a whole’. A similar survey focusing on climate change attitudes among Finnish businesses found similar results.

Figure 1. Responses to ‘I am concerned about climate change’

This high level of baseline concern about climate change translates into an even higher sense of urgency to address it. 78% of the Finnish population – an overwhelming majority – indicated that addressing climate change was either urgent or very urgent (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Responses to ‘Addressing climate change is urgent’ 

These high levels of concern about climate change and a clear sense of urgency to do something about it generally provide fertile ground for strong climate policy. It is thus not surprising that the previous Finnish Parliament approved the FCCA and that the newly-appointed government’s programme promises active measures to mitigate climate change. But to what extent is the FCCA in line with general policy preferences among the Finnish population? 

Mandatory interim targets?

As we discussed above, the FCCA is mainly procedural and largely symbolic. For example, it clarifies Ministerial responsibilities and specifies regular planning activities for long-term, mid-term and adaptation policy plans, but fails to enshrine clear, stepwise targets to reach its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.[4] However, it has also been pointed out that the Act does provide for more transparency – which could in turn create “political pressure for more effective policy measures if monitoring shows a discrepancy between objectives and performance”.[5] But is this approach in line with general policy preferences in the Finnish population? To this end, one survey question asked people whether they would prefer a carbon budget approach similar to the one used in the United Kingdom, where there are absolute limits on carbon emissions over five-year periods. Results indicate that 65% of Finns would prefer a stronger approach to climate policy similar to that of the UK, while about 15% did not know (Figure 3). Thus, the new legislation falls short of a more ambitious and serious climate approach based around interim targets favoured by most Finns.

Figure 3. Responses to ‘Finland should imitate the UK’

Finland as a climate leader?

How does this desire for greater climate ambition fare when Finns consider what other countries are or should be doing? Figure 4 reports to what extent Finns thought that Finland should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions regardless of what other countries do. Again, a clear nearly two-thirds majority of the Finns surveyed (60%) agreed or strongly agreed that Finland should address climate change regardless of what others are doing. These responses thus indicate Finns wish to see Finland as a leader, rather than a follower. This vision is clearly out of sync with the rather unambitious FCCA and the national energy and climate strategies adopted so far. 

Figure 4. Responses to ‘Finland should mitigate regardless of others’ 

Where next?

A new government has just taken office in Finland and is currently in the process of specifying its policy priorities. So far Finland has been a backbencher on national climate policy, indicated by a willingness to accept EU-level climate targets, but with little ambition to exceed them and take leadership. A weak signal of greater ambition can be detected in the new government’s programme that sets as its target to reach the EU 2020 climate goals by the end of the current legislature in early 2019. The FCCA can support this, but is in itself a very cautious step to develop climate policies. The survey data presented here indicate a strong desire in the general public for Finland to become a real forerunner in addressing climate change. Indeed, vast majorities of the population are concerned about climate change and would prefer their government to take much more decisive, carbon budget-driven steps to address the issue. Future evaluations of Finnish climate policies will show if the relatively unambitious FCCA can support such radical change.

 

[1] Pölönen, I. (2014). The Finnish Climate Change Act: Architecture, Functions, and Challenges. Climate Law, 4(3-4), 301-326.

[2] Benson, D., & Lorenzoni, I. (2014). Examining the Scope for National Lesson‐drawing on Climate Governance. The Political Quarterly, 85(2), 202-211.

[3] The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes) the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), the independent fund reporting to the Finnish Parliament (Sitra) and an independent think tank Demos Helsinki. TNS Gallup Oy collected a sample of 1005 persons between 15–74 years of age across Finland using Gallup Forum – (Response Panel 5.–14.3.2015). The margin of error is approximately +/- 3 percentage points.

[4] Pölönen, I. (2014). The Finnish Climate Change Act: Architecture, Functions, and Challenges. Climate Law, 4(3-4), 301-326.

[5] p. 314 in Pölönen, I. (2014). The Finnish Climate Change Act: Architecture, Functions, and Challenges. Climate Law, 4(3-4), 301-326.

The post The Finnish Climate Change Act – In Line with What Finland’s Public Wants? appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Plenary sessions : EU-Russia relations were high on Parliament's agenda this plenary week in Strasbourg. In two separate resolutions, MEPs called on EU member states to maintain their unity following Russia´s illegal annexation of Crimea and drew attention to the militarisation of the Black Sea basin. Meanwhile the debate and vote on Parliament´s recommendations for the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed due to the high number of amendments.

Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP

Hier, nous étions avec Franck Gouéry et Leonard Vincent sur le plateau de l'émission 28minutes sur Arte pour évoquer la situation en Erythrée. Vous retrouver ICI le replay de l'emission et le synopsis ci dessous : "Après un an d’enquête, trois experts mandatés par le Conseil des droits de l’homme de l’ONU ont publié le 8 juin dernier un rapport de 500 pages qui décrit l’Erythrée comme un système répressif où les violations des droits de l’homme par le gouvernement sont « systématiques et à grande échelle ». Selon le rapport, certains abus commis en Erythrée « pourraient constituer des crimes contre l’humanité », conduisant près de 5 000 personnes à fuir leur pays chaque mois pour migrer en partie vers l’Europe."

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Addressing over a hundred delegates attending a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) conference in Rome, Pope Francis today urged Member States to work toward combatting food waste, reducing the volatility of food prices, and creating a sense of global solidarity to ensure food security for all people.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission has called on all stakeholders in Central African Republic (CAR) to help promote an environment conducive to holding elections ahead of the country’s upcoming parliamentary vote.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission has called on all stakeholders in Central African Republic (CAR) to help promote an environment conducive to holding elections ahead of the country’s upcoming parliamentary vote.

A United Nations counter-terrorism body is calling for expanding the use of advance passenger information (API) to stem the flow of foreign terrorist fighters, and recommends a number of measures to help overcome the challenges associated with using this important tool.

The German-Swedish anti-ship missile RBS15 Mk3 has successfully completed its operational test abroad the German Navy's K130 Braunschweig-class corvette, Magdeburg (F 261), at a test site in Swedish territorial waters.

The US Navy is set to christen its tenth littoral combat ship (LCS), future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), on 13 June at Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.

BMT Design & Technology (BMT) has received a research grant to develop a risk analysis and evaluation of emerging technologies, challenges and design solutions to support Australia's SEA1000 future submarine programme.

Le format des FFDJ passe de 1950 à 1650 cet été, à la faveur du plan de mutation. Aucune
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Un comité stratégique de l'armée de l'air présidé par le général Denis Mercier doit décider la suite à
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Concerned at the recent armed clashes amid the ongoing peace talks on Colombia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, today said these incidents have the potential to “derail” a long sought peace process, increasing risks for the civilian population.

The top United Nations human rights official has urged the Government of Pakistan to reinstate its moratorium on the death penalty amid a sharp uptick in the number of executions in the country, the Organization’s human rights office reported today.

A Nemzetközi Valutaalap küldöttsége csütörtökön Brüsszelből visszatért Washingtonba, arra hivatkozva, hogy nincs értelme tovább tárgyalni a görög kormánnyal, az álláspontok túl távoliak. Eközben az IMF szóvivője úgy fogalmazott, hogy nem értek véget a tárgyalások, a Valutaalap kész visszatérni az asztalhoz, ha a görög kormány álláspontja konstruktívabbá válik.

The Central Africa region is still facing many challenges, including an economic crisis aggravated by the drop in oil prices, rising youth unemployment, and terrorist activities, as well as the cross-border impact of crises in Central African Republic (CAR) and Burundi, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the sub-region warned today.