Impact assessments of Government’s new policies to reach carbon neutrality by 2035 

Finland’s Government Programme under Prime Minister Sanna Marin committed the country to achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 — one of the most ambitious climate targets in the world. Meeting this goal requires not only the full implementation of existing measures, but also additional policies across all sectors of the economy.

In 2022, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, together with other key ministries, commissioned an impact assessment to evaluate whether current and planned climate and energy measures were sufficient to meet the 2035 target and the EU’s enhanced 2030 obligations. Using the TIMESVTT model, the study assessed emissionsreduction potential for 2030, 2035, and 2040, identifying policy gaps and evaluating options for further action.

The modelling results were delivered as an official researchbased statement to the Government and Parliament, and were discussed in the ministerial working group and the Climate Policy Roundtable, which included policymakers, industry, NGOs, and researchers. This work directly supported the government’s scheduled 2022 review of climatepolicy adequacy and informed decisions on potential binding economic and legislative measures. The report also served other research institutions and the Finnish Climate Change Panel in their own assessments.