SECURE NPA project partner in North Karelia (Finland) has been selected as one of eleven good practice cases of implementing Smart Specialisation Platform for the ‘Roadmap Towards Oil-Free and Low-Carbon North Karelia 2040’ case, which is the project coordinated by the Regional Council of North Karelia.

Summary of the good practice

Roadmap Towards Oil-Free and Low-Carbon Area 2040 is based on Energy and Climate Programme of North Karelia 2020. The main sectors for the roadmap are: Energy, Transport, Land-Use, Natural resources and bioeconomy, Circular economy, Innovations and know-how. Work was conducted in several workshops involving several stakeholders.

Challenge addressed and targeted objective

North Karelia is applying a membership in Carbon Neutral Municipalities Network: HINKU municipalities aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 2007 level until 2030 inside the municipality’s borders. Fossil oil used for heating will be replaced with renewable energy by 2020 and in transport by 2030.

North Karelia’s Climate and Energy Programme was adopted in 2012. It laid out the targets for reducing GHG emissions and raising awareness about climate change, sustainable growth of bioeconomy sector and increasing the share of renewable energy. The purpose of the roadmap is to collect and suggest tangible steps that are to be taken to reach the set targets. The roadmap is part of implementation of Fossil Oil Free North Karelia project and contributes to a Regional Action plan that is being drafted in the Interreg Europe BIO4ECO project.

More information on the roadmap for oil pairing and low carbon North Karelia 2040 here.