Climate and resource wise Kuopio
The Viksu Kuopio program shows guidelines for carbon-neutral and climate-safe city and sustainable well-being. One of the main goals of the city strategy is to be a climate- and resource-wise city. This is what Viksu Kuopio aims for. The Kuopio of the future is a capital of good life that grows sustainably and is proud of its environment.
Viksu Kuopio’s main goals:
- Carbon neutral by 2030.
- Zero-waste by 2050 and a pioneer in the circular economy.
- Sustainable consumption level by 2050.
By 2030:
- Greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by at least 80% by 2030 from the 1990 level.
- The amount of household waste will decrease and the recycling rate will increase, reaching a level of 65% by 2030.
- The consumption-based carbon footprint will be halved by 2030 from the 2005 level.
This is what Viksu Kuopio is made of
Implementation and monitoring
The Viksu Kuopio program binds the service areas of the city and companies owned by the city. The program also has collaborators as Responsible Parties who, for their part, implement climate and resource-wise goals. The program includes almost 200 individual tasks.
The realization of the goals of Kuopio’s climate and resource wisdom program is monitored annually. The implementation of the measures and the good practices that have been started are reported to the steering group of the Viksu Kuopio program and the city government.
The progress of the goals is monitored, for example, by monitoring greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption-based carbon footprint, as well as the amount and recycling rate of household waste.
Other programs that advance climate and resource wisdom
The Viksu Kuopio program brings together the city’s other programs that implement the main goals of climate and resource wisdom. Viksu Kuopio functions as an umbrella for separate theme programs.
- Kuopio urban area public transport program 2030 (PDF, in Finnish) (PDF, in Finnish)
- Programme for promoting cycling (PDF, in Finnish)
- Biodiversity Program
- Energy efficiency action plan (PDF, in Finnish)
- Waste policy programme (in Finnish)
Long-term work for climate
The City of Kuopio has been working for a long time to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The city prepared its first climate strategy in 2003. The climate policy program for 2020–2030 was approved in late 2020.
In 2024, the climate policy program was updated together with the resource-wise program and they were merged into the new Viksu Kuopio program (Climate and resource-wise Kuopio 2035).
Local and national cooperation
The city is part of the Finnish Sustainable Communities (FISU), a national network of resource-wise pioneer municipalities , where municipalities spar with each other in resource-wise work. Kuopio is committed to the Circular Economy Green Deal. Kuopio is also involved in the climate work of Pohjois-Savo province as well as in the Climate Councils of the Municipal Council (in Finnish), Eco Support Activities and the international ICLEI network.
Climate work is also done in the SISU project
Implementing organized climate work in Pohjois-Savo region (SISU) -project brings the climate goals of the Viksu Kuopio program to a practical level.
Energy efficiency brings significant savings
The City of Kuopio is participating in the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Agreement for the period 2026-2035. Energy efficiency activities will achieve significant cost savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s own operations. The city’s interim target for 2030 is 6 percent energy savings and the overall target for 2035 is 10 percent energy savings. The starting point, i.e. in 2024, the city’s energy use is a total of 111,280.1 MWh. The agreement includes the energy use of the city’s buildings, outdoor and street lighting, traffic lights and work machines. In addition, the agreement includes the energy use of Kuopion Water as a separate reporting unit.
The City of Kuopio has already joined the Urban Energy Saving Agreement in 2001 and the Municipal Energy Efficiency Agreement for the agreement periods 2008–2016 and 2017–2025. During the agreement periods, the city has utilized energy subsidies applied for from Business Finland, for example, to carry out energy audits of buildings.
The target for the previous agreement period was achieved two years ahead of schedule. The aim of the agreement was to increase the city’s energy efficiency by approximately 10 million kilowatt hours by 2025. By the end of 2023, Kuopio had increased its annual energy efficiency by approximately 19 million kilowatt hours. The annual savings already achieved are almost double the target set. The savings measures that were found to be good will remain permanent practices.
Information about the state of the environment from environmental reports
The annual environmental report examines the development of the state of the environment in relation to the city’s strategic goals, such as carbon neutrality and strengthening biodiversity. Check out the environmental reports on the website (in Finnish).