Ecology seminar: Mitigating climate change

On Monday, 16th October, Ecology and Natural Resource Management department organized a seminar with Finnish student Siiri Söyrinki, who currently works as an intern at the international department. Siiri studies in Environmental Change and Policy master program at University of Helsinki and is interested in solving environmental problems. The theme of seminar was mitigating climate change in Finnish energy sector as Siiri is looking forward to exploring the subject in her master thesis. Students and professors from ecology department took part in the seminar.

Climate change is widely considered great threat to our environment. Majority of scientists agree that current global warming is caused by human actions. Burning of fossil fuels increases the CO2 concentration, which is changing the natural greenhouse effect of the planet. Due to global warming ecosystems in the arctic region and all over the world are changing. Concern of changing climate is driving Finnish energy sector to find new ways to produce and consume energy. Finland’s energy sector is very carbon intensive and Finns consume a lot of energy per capita. Finland’s goal is to produce 50% of energy with renewable resources by 2050 and reduce CO2 emissions. To achieve those objectives Finland is improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of biofuels among other solutions. In recent years, Finland has managed to decrease CO2 emissions from energy sector, but there is yet long way to go.

Siiri’s presentation was followed by discussion about causes of climate change and what Finland could do to reduce carbon emissions. Seminar was a great way to exchange ideas and have a discussion on important issues. Climate change is only one of the many great global ecological problems facing our planet and solving these problems requires discussion between ecologists across borders.