Press releases

A report compiled by the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE has produced a clearer picture of litter in the Finnish marine environment. On beaches close to residential areas 90% of the litter visible to the naked eye is composed of various plastic and foam plastic products, and cigarette butts are the most common type of plastic waste. Road traffic is the most significant source of microplastics.

According to the dissertation by Mikko Savolahti, a researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, residential wood combustion causes 200 premature deaths in Finland each year. In addition, residential combustion is a contributing factor to accelerating climate change. Savolahti will defend his dissertation at Aalto University on Friday, 6 March

Climate emissions have decreased in nearly all Finnish municipalities since 2005. The average decrease is 15 per cent. The reduction in municipal emissions has been driven by the decline in electricity emissions, reforms in district heating production and the construction of wind power. Emissions from oil-fired heating have dropped at a relatively similar pace in all municipalities, resulting in a significant impact at the national level.

Boreal lakes emit greenhouse gases, but the magnitude of the emissions is still inadequately quantified. While the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane have been addressed earlier, those of nitrous oxide (N2O) have received little interest. A Finnish study published in Global Change Biology increases significantly the knowledge on the nitrous oxide emissions from boreal lakes. A joint project of Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Natural Resources Insti

Finnish peatlands are under a bigger pressure from land use than has generally been realised. More than half of the peatland area has been drained, and most of the remaining undrained peatlands are bordered by drained areas. A study by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute investigated the current status of undrained peatlands.