Zero emissions by 2050
Swedish minister of the environment Lena Ek said the keyword is 'eco-innovation' ¬– a highly topical issue in Sweden which has boosted employment by 15% since 2007. "We're moving towards alternative solutions and have set ourselves the goal of most means of transport using alternative fuels by 2030," she explained. "That means that by 2050 we should hopefully have brought the level of greenhouse gas emissions down to zero." She added that Sweden's biggest car manufacturer, Volvo, aims to make a complete transition to alternative fuels by 2030. Ek remarked that it serves no one to focus on the negative and that we should be thinking about how we can use modern technology to create a cleaner future – one that sets an example for other countries.
Finnish minister of the environment Ville Niinistö said that the state could invest in its own renewable energy industry so as to generate revenue and create jobs for the country. He echoed the words of his colleagues in stating that more and more emphasis should be placed on the green economy and innovation so as to mitigate the impact of human activity on the environment.
Freak weather conditions
Jens Hesselberg Christensen, the director of research at the Danish Institute of Meteorology, stressed that there is no question of climate change occurring and that it is highly probable that it will influence human activity. He explained that temperatures will not change around the world uniformly, but vary from region to region. "There's no doubt that climate change is happening," he said. "If the warming we're seeing continues, the changes the world will face will be huge, including in the Nordic countries and Baltic States. We'll see freak weather conditions more and more often. Droughts and floods directly affect people's welfare and living conditions, since they hit agriculture and forestry."
Simon Upton, the director of the Environment Directorate of the OECD, said that CO2 emissions from fossil sources must be done away with completely in the second half of the century. "In shaping climate policy we should be focussing on keeping the carbon that's emitted into the atmosphere up there as long as possible – decades, even centuries," he said. "Of course, a partial reduction in CO2 emissions alone is unlikely to solve the problems of global warming, since there are all sorts of things that have been pumped into the air that are still up there."
The challenges of energy efficiency, infrastructure and biomass
Benjamin Donald Smith, a senior adviser with Nordic Energy Research, outlined the prospects of the Nordic countries in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, which essentially means an economic model that is free of any greenhouse gas emissions – or in other words a model which, today at least, does not exist. "If all of the sectors of the economy work together, the model's realistic," he said. "The biggest challenges Northern Europe faces are in areas like energy efficiency, infrastructure solutions, biomass supplies, research and development and the adoption of technology for the collection and storage of carbon."
Estonia's options in moving towards a competitive economy with as low a level of emissions as possible, if not complete climate neutrality, were explained by Valdur Lahtvee, a senior expert from the Tallinn Centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute. Here Jon Kahn, a secretary-general from the Swedish Ministry of the Environment, underscored the importance of cooperation between the countries and provided an overview of their work together to date.
Talking about the climate and the economy
The second day of the 'Climate from the Nordic-Baltic perspective: science, politics and economy' conference focussed in more detail on the communication of science and the economy, including prospects for an economy that is responsible for as little pollution as possible. Three discussions were held in parallel which examined climate considerations in regard to agriculture and forestry, tenets and views connected to climate science and spatial planning and construction.
Those taking part in the panel on the communication of climate science agreed that the role of the media is not to terrify people with the effects of climate change or to say what course should be taken, but to say what course could be taken. Connecting climate change with different fields and reporting on climate issues in a more multifaceted and understandable way are taking on increasing importance.
Another discussion focussed on striking a balance in global carbon levels, with the panel saying that scientific debate over the reliability of climate models should not get in the way of political progress. It has become clear that the rise in the average global temperature is directly related to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. At the spatial planning and construction session the participants discussed how climate change-related problems could be reduced through better planning: developing green areas and bike paths, cutting car use and integrating different methods of getting around. The use of timber was also mentioned as one way of reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry.
The conference was organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of the Environment, the Tallinn Centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Institute of Communication of Tallinn University.
This conference summary was compiled by Pille Rõivas, an adviser with the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Estonia. Read more here.
Media coverage of the climate conference (in Estonian):
- ERR 7.00 am news (October 23)
- Expert: The rise in sea levels is one of the most significant effects of global warming (ERR, Terevisioon morning programme, October 23)
- Fortum vice-president: The energy sector basically needs to become emissions-free (E24, Postimees newspaper)
- OECD inspector: All countries will be impacted in the same way by climate change (ERR, Aktuaalne Kaamera news, October 23)
- Climate conference looks at the future of Northern Europe (Kanal 2, Reporter evening programme, October 23)
- Environment expert: We should only use what we really need (Ulvar Käärt, Eesti Päevaleht newspaper)
- Senior EU official: In its current form shale oil energy is unsustainable (Raimo Poom, Eesti Päevaleht newspaper)
- Climate scientist: Storms open people's eyes (Arko Olesk, TLÜ/Postimees newspaper)
- Setting the world to rights programme (Raadio Kuku, starting from 11:30, October 26)
- Ville Niinistö: The cost of fuel should reflect the burden it places on the environment (Kadri Veermäe, Postimees newspaper, October 30)
- Tiit Kallaste: Major climate policy forum (Sirp newspaper, November 8)