Coal-free Finland’s (Hiilivapaa Suomi) work has grown and developed significantly in recent years. Originally a local campaign called Coal-free Helsinki (Hiilivapaa Helsinki), it became a campaign opposing Fortum’s coal power plants, and later one advocating for the decarbonization of the steel industry. Today, we work in collaboration with Nordic and other European partners to help key sectors of heavy industry transition from fossil-dependent technologies to low-emission solutions. We wanted a name that better reflects our current work. At the same time, we have renewed our entire visual identity and website.
A few thoughts about our new name:
This year marks a decade from signing the Paris climate agreement. As we know, governments are lacking behind the emission reduction targets. Change happens agonisingly slow. When steps forward are taken in one area, someone else is backtracking. And we are losing the 1,5-target.
Yet the need to achieve global emission reductions is more dire than ever. The biggest polluting systems must be decarbonised, It is key to understand that decreasing some emissions is not enough. Global emissions need to be directed to net zero, and after that, towards net negative. This is not a journey of one campaign, one solution or individual heroistic actions. We have to ‘just shift’ again and again.
Emission reductions alone won’t solve the polycrisis. Frankly, renewable energy infrastructure and expected increase in energy demand in industrial processes poses a real challenge. Fossil-dependent production technologies must be phased out, but simultaneously we must halt biodiversity loss and ensure a just transition. In particular we must understand that infinite growth is not possible on a limited planet. That’s why we need a ‘just shift’.
We will continue to work to decarbonise key sectors in heavy industry by advocating towards businesses, financiers and policy makers. We work to ensure the future is built from low-emission materials.