Minna Minkkinen, Vice-President of the Left Alliance, calls on the Government to take decisions on climate action to achieve Finland's goal of a carbon-neutral Finland by 2035.

Minkkinen participated in Iin IlmastoAreena's party chair panel on Friday 20 August – Bold and effective climate action is now needed immediately. The climate crisis is already here and there is no longer time to wait. Emission reductions must be decided now," Minkkinen says, pointing out the importance of the autumn budget session in rushing climate action:– The Government must make emission reduction solutions that are socially and ecologically sustainable during the autumn budget session. Municipalities are starting strategy work with the new councils and, according to Minkkinen, the goal of carbon neutrality must be at the heart of this work.– We on the left are talking about a fair transition – it means that even though the lives of all of us are going to change with the climate crisis, this change will not be torn from the backs of the most vulnerable. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for August is stark reading. The likelihood of a number of weather events causing damage, such as forest fires and floods, has increased. Many changes to the seas and continental glaciers are also already irreversible or slowly recovering, according to the report. The extent of future changes will depend on how greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, develop in the future. Climate policy decisions are at the heart of this.– Solving the climate crisis needs permanent structural changes, i.e. political guidance towards a carbon-neutral society, both in government and in municipalities," Minkkinen comments. More information:Vice-President of the Left Alliance