Here you will find more information about climate-neutraility, what it means for you and your city, as well as information about how NetZeroCities works to help get you there!
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It provides systemic, peer-to-peer and collaborative approaches, alongside practical tools and evidence-based cases, to support the transition to urban climate neutrality and help navigate complex systemic change.
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Lahti is a mid-size city with ca. 120 000 inhabitants located in inland Southern Finland, making it the 9thbiggest city in Finland. The city area covers 135 km2 with most inhabitants living within 5 km from the city center. Eastern parts of the municipality are mostly forest and farming land with large water bodies around the city area.
Since the 1950s the city grew significantly around increasing industry. The fast industrialisation did not happen without costs to local environment and since the 1970s the city has worked hard to take care of its environment with all stakeholders involved. As proof of Lahti’s significant efforts in climate and environmental work, we were appointed as the European Green Capital for 2021.
Lahti has for long been the frontrunner in climate work among European cities, and climate-neutrality became a goal in the city strategy of Lahti in 2009 when the first emission reduction targets were placed. To highlight the importance of carbon-neutrality and ensure its realization in best possible way, it is integrated to other strategic goals of Lahti, such as vitality, public health, and biodiversity conservation through strong cross-sectoral programme work. The European Green Capital Year 2021 left a strong political legacy for the work ahead and has already proven that ambitious climate politics can attract new business, increase the vitality of the city, and improve the quality of life.
The city of Lahti wants to become carbon neutral by 2025. To achieve that, the pilot activities will focus on the most challenging emission sectors of the city: mobility and transport. The ongoing shift to alternative fuels, especially electrification, will not be enough to cut the mobility emissions. Therefore, a significant modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling is needed. Inner city traffic is strongly related to commuting by car.
