The City of Helsinki has launched Think Sustainability, an online service to provide residents with tips on how to make more sustainable lifestyle and business decisions.
Think Sustainability is the world’s first online service rating Helsinki’s restaurants, attractions, shops and accommodation against bespoke sustainability criteria, according to a statement.
The sustainability criteria/standards adopted by Helsinki have been developed in partnership with independent think tank Demos Helsinki, local interest groups and sustainability experts.
The services offered by the online platform includes recommending residents to use emission free transportation options by providing them CO2 emissions in grams per person per trip in line with the option they would choose.
The sustainability service has been launched following a survey carried in 2018 by the City of Helsinki revealed that two-thirds of residents identified the climate crisis as their major concern when thinking about the future of the city.
Helsinki has set a target to become carbon-neutral by 2035.
Cities house more than half of the world's population and are responsible for over 70% of the world's energy-related carbon emissions (C40).
Kaisa-Reeta Koskinen, the director of the City of Helsinki's Carbon Neutral Helsinki Initiative said: "The shift towards carbon neutrality requires both major structural changes and everyday actions. Individual choices matter: According to recent studies, in order to stop further climate warming, every Finn should reduce their carbon footprint from 10.3 tonnes to 2.5 tonnes by the year 2030. If one person in each of the 2.6 million households existing in Finland would reduce their carbon footprint by 20%, we would reach 38% of the goals set for Finland in the Paris climate agreement for reducing emissions."
Smart and carbon-neutral cities is a hot topic at the coming European Utility Week conference. For information or to register, click here
In June 2019, Helsinki was crowned as the most innovative region in the EU by the European Commission, and is a European Capital of Smart Tourism 2019.
Think Sustainably launched in June 2019 is a pilot service and for now includes 81 participating service providers. The programme will be further developed to include a larger range of sustainable choices from restaurants to mobility.
