Greenhouse gas emissions from domestic transport make up about one fifth of Finland’s total greenhouse gas emissions and about 28% of the emissions of the energy sector. According to energy statistics compiled by Statistics Finland, transport has accounted for about 16% of the end use of energy in recent years. Road traffic accounts for the vast majority of all the greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption in domestic transport – more than 90%.
The European Union requires Finland to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the burden-sharing sector (including transport, agriculture, heating and waste management) by 39% by the year 2030.
In the current Government Programme, Finland has committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic by 2030.
Only slight changes in carbon dioxide emissions in domestic transport over past 30 years
According to Statistics Finland, greenhouse gas emissions from domestic transport amounted to about 11.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq) in 2018. This represents a reduction of about 10% compared to 2005 and about 4% compared to 1990. About 94% of emissions in domestic transport comes from road traffic.
According to the LIPASTO calculation system, carbon dioxide emissions in road traffic amounted to about 10.9 Mt in 2018, of which about 54% from cars, 32% from lorries, 8% from vans, 5% from buses and 1% from motorcycles, mopeds and light quadricycles. According to the Statistics Finland greenhouse gas inventory, road traffic emissions grew steadily from the early 1990s and peaked in 2007, the subsequent decrease being due to the economic downturn, improved energy efficiency of cars and the use of biofuels.
Different people move in different ways
Mobility varies between population groups in terms of quantity and purpose. A passenger transport study conducted by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (2018) showed that the mobility of an average Finnish adult is 43 km per day, of which nearly 70% is accounted for by leisure activities, work, and education and training. The study shows that mobility is the highest among car drivers, 52 km per day. Senior citizens and young people move about considerably less on average, and their mobility is weighted towards leisure activities.
Potential measures for reducing emissions from transport
”Low carbon roadmap for transport and logistics" final report 2020 identifies several potential measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in road traffic, which may be categorised as follows:
1. Accelerating the replacement rate of the car stock
2. Transport system infrastructure investments
3. Public transport and sustainable mobility in cities
4. Sustainable transport services and digitisation
5. Renewable fuels
Immobilité!
What has been nearly completely overlooked in the efforts to reduce emissions from transport is the potential of simply reducing kilometrage (travelling less) and improving the energy efficiency of the transport system through digitisation.
Various advanced remote services have the potential to reduce physical mobility over the next few decades. During the coronavirus spring, we discovered that up to 59% of Finland’s labour force was able to shift to telecommuting. Indeed, Finns had the highest rate in Europe of shifting to working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This manifested itself in transport: in spring 2020, transport volumes fell by up to 40%.
Surveys conducted in Finland and abroad indicate that a significant percentage of the labour force would like to continue to telecommute after the coronavirus pandemic, at least for part of the time. Many large corporations, such as Microsoft and Google, have already decided to adopt a permanent ‘work from everywhere’ policy.
Thanks to Finland’s good telecommunications connections, high digital literacy in the population and positive attitudes of citizens, we are well placed to undertake a permanent digital shift. Estimates concerning the volume of this potential vary greatly, because they are based on a wide range of assumptions regarding, among other things, the proliferation and usability of the required services and changes in the labour market.
Besides telecommuting, digital services such as remote consultations in health care, online shopping, distribution services and integrated logistics facilitate reductions in transport volumes and hence in emissions.
Road traffic has been growing at a rate of 1%–3% per year, but now we can project that the volume of road traffic may even begin to decline permanently, thanks to the new digital world order and new work practices.
They’re trying to outlaw private cars again, dammit!
No, this is not about outlawing driving altogether. The point is to allow everyone to be able to choose freely how to move about or whether to move about at all. Many of us want to use our time for other things besides sitting in traffic. If digital tools can enable this, there are multiple benefits: cost savings, a cleaner environment and more time to spend with the people you care about.
Be more productive, be happier, reduce emissions!
In the past year, we have seen that using digital services can make us be more productive and happier and reduce our emissions. Reducing transport volume through digital means should therefore be a key tool in the toolkit of reducing transport emissions.
Janne Lautanala, Chief Ecosystem and Technology Officer, Fintraffic
