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Report: Finnish companies are increasingly committing to science-based climate work, but sufficient emissions reductions are still to be seen
The commitment of Finnish companies to science-based climate targets (SBT) has increased in recent years, but actual emissions reductions have not met global comparison levels. The findings are made in a report published on Wednesday, 31 May by UN Global Compact Finland.
A new report by UN Global Compact Finland analyzes the commitment of Finnish companies to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The report provides a snapshot of Finnish companies' dedication to science-based climate work and explores the impact of the targets set.
According to the report, the Science Based Targets set by Finnish companies are quite ambitious. Most companies have set a target in line with the 1.5-degree goal of the Paris Agreement. However, net zero targets are rare, with Finland lagging behind all the other Nordic countries. Net zero targets mean reducing emissions by at least 90 percent by 2050 and neutralizing the remaining emissions.
Most Finnish companies strive to reduce their emissions both from their own operations (scope 1 and 2) and from the value chain (scope 3). This is important, as usually the lion’s share of companies' emissions is caused in value chains, for example from the procurement of raw materials or the use of products and services. Most of the companies that have set targets aiming to reduce their emissions by 40–60 percent, but there are many more ambitious targets as well.
Although target-setting seems to be well underway and the number of commitments is increasing, the results suggest that too little measures to reduce emissions have been taken. The companies committed to the initiative have reduced their emissions by approximately 3 percent over a 3-year period (2019–2021), which does not meet the level required by the SBT initiative.
In a global comparison, however, companies committed to the SBTi have reduced their emissions faster than other companies. Finnish companies that have set targets reduce their own scope 1 and 2 emissions by 6.2 Mt CO2e annually, which corresponded to 13 percent of the emissions of the Finnish state in 2021. If the companies' indirect scope 3 emissions were included in this comparison, they would far exceed Finland's total emissions. The emission reductions of companies therefore have great importance.
At the time of writing the report (February 2023), 79 Finnish companies had committed to the SBT initiative, of which 39 companies had validated targets. There are a wide range of commitments from companies of different sizes and industries, and fourteen of those committed are wholly or partially state-owned.
When the numbers of commitments are compared among OECD countries, Finland ranks in the middle. However, if the figures are compared to the GDP of each OECD country, Finland ranks in the top five behind Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Iceland.
The report's data will be updated in autumn 2023 before the UN Climate Change Conference COP28.
Access the report:
Commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative in Finland – A Progress Report, May 2023
Further information:
Karoliina Koistila
Programme Manager, Climate & Environment
UN Global Compact Suomi
+358 40 516 3772
karoliina.koistila@globalcompact.fi
About the Science Based Targets initiative:
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is an international initiative that enables companies to set ambitious and science-based emission reduction targets. The UN Global Compact, CDP, World Natural Resources Institute (WRI) and WWF founded the initiative in 2015.
About the UN Global Compact:
As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals. With more than 18,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world.