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Kiertotalouden strateginen ohjelma pyrkii muuttamaan merkittävästi muun muassa luonnonvarojen käyttöä ja luonnonvarojen käyttöön perustuvaa taloutta. Siirtyminen kiertotalouden mukaiseen yhteiskuntaan vaikuttaa kauaskantoisesti talouteen ja ympäristöön. Siksi ohjelman ympäristövaikutukset oli selvitettävä ja arvioitava valmistelun kuluessa (Laki viranomaisten suunnitelmien ja ohjelmien ympäristövaikutusten arvioinnista (200/2005). Tämän arvioinnin toteutti yhteensä 22 eri tutkimuslaitoksia ja yliopistoja edustavaa asiantuntijaa. Vaikutusten arviot ovat laadullisia ja ehdollisia ohjelman ja sen toimenpiteiden luonteen vuoksi. Tarkastelussa voitiin arvioida tietyn toimenpiteen vaikutusten todennäköistä suuntaa, mutta vaikutuksen suuruus on riippuvainen muun muassa voimavaroista ja muista toimeenpanoon vaikuttavista tekijöistä. Arvioinnissa todettiin, että kiertotalousohjelman kunnianhimoinen visio ja määrälliset tavoitteet kertovat ohjelman tavoitteleman muutoksen laajuudesta. Määrällisten tavoitteiden asettaminen on siis perusteltua. Ohjelman toimeenpanon yhteydessä tulee kuitenkin tarkastella, millä edellytyksillä tavoitteet voidaan saavuttaa, sillä kattavia skenaarioanalyyseja ei ole ohjelman valmistelussa tehty. Kiertotalousohjelman toimenpiteitä pidettiin arvioinnissa pääosin ohjelman vision suuntaan johtavina ja kiertotaloutta edistävinä. Ohjelman ilmeisenä heikkoutena on kuitenkin se, että suuri osa toimenpiteistä on yleisiä linjauksia tai selvitystehtäviä, joiden vaikutukset ovat hyvin epävarmoja. Esitetyssä ohjauskeinojen kehittämisessä kannustavat toimenpiteet korostuvat. Ohjelmassa on vähän toimenpiteitä, jotka rajoittavat kiertotalouden kannalta ongelmallista toimintaa tai hinnoittelevat ulkoisvaikutuksia. Kirjallisuudessa vanhoja rakenteita murtavien toimien on kuitenkin havaittu olevan tärkeitä, kun tavoitellaan rakenteellisia muutoksia. Kiertotalous on poliittisena kenttänä varsin uusi, ja viime vuosien vilkkaasta kehitystyöstä huolimatta tietoaukkoja ja kehittämistarpeita on vielä runsaasti. Mikäli ohjelman halutaan ohjaavan politiikkaa, on tärkeää, että ohjelmasta johdetaan mahdollisimman selkeitä ja konkreettisia tavoitteita eri sektoreille ja varataan riittävät voimavarat ohjelman toimeenpanoon. Ohjelmaa voidaan päivittää seurannan ja toteutumisen arvioinnin perusteella siten, että varmistetaan eteneminen kohti tavoitteita. Seurantaan ja arviointiin tulee siis varata riittävästi voimavaroja. Ohjelman toimeenpanoon suunnitelluilla määrärahoilla voidaan koordinoida useita kehittämisprosesseja ja saada aikaan merkittävää, kiertotaloutta edistävää TKI-toimintaa.

The circular economy model aims to reduce the consumption of virgin materials by increasing the time materials remain in use while transitioning economic activities to sectors with lower material intensities. Circular economy concepts have largely been focussed on the role of businesses and institutions, yet consumer changes can have a large impact. In a more circular economy consumers often become users—they purchase access to goods and services rather than physical products. Other consumer engagement includes purchasing renewable energy, recycling and using repair and maintenance services etc. However, there are few studies on whether consumers actually make these sorts of consumption choices at large scale, and what impacts arise from these choices on life-cycle material consumption. Here we examine what types of households exhibit circular consumption habits, and whether such habits are reflected in their material footprints. We link the Eurostat Household Budget Survey 2010 with a global input-output model and assess the material footprints of 189 800 households across 24 European countries, making the results highly generalizable in the European context. Our results reveal that different types of households (young, seniors, families etc) adopt different circular features in their consumption behaviour. Furthermore, we show that due to rebound effects, the circular consumption habits investigated have a weak connection to total material footprint. Our findings highlight the limitations of circular consumption in today’s economic systems, and the need for stronger policy incentives, such as shifting taxation from renewable resources and labour to non-renewable resources.

Although buildings produce a third of greenhouse gas emissions, it has been suggested that they might be one of the most cost-effective climate change mitigation solutions. Among building materials, wood not only produces fewer emissions according to life-cycle assessment but can also store carbon. This study aims to estimate the carbon storage potential of new European buildings between 2020 and 2040. While studies on this issue exist, they mainly present rough estimations or are based on a small number of case studies. To ensure a reliable estimation, 50 different case buildings were selected and reviewed. The carbon storage per m2 of each case building was calculated and three types of wooden buildings were identified based on their carbon storage capacity. Finally, four European construction scenarios were generated based on the percentage of buildings constructed from wood and the type of wooden buildings. The annual captured CO2 varied between 1 and 55 Mt, which is equivalent to between 1% and 47% of CO2 emissions from the cement industry in Europe. This study finds that the carbon storage capacity of buildings is not significantly influenced by the type of building, the type of wood or the size of the building but rather by the number and the volume of wooden elements used in the structural and non-structural components of the building. It is recommended that policymakers aiming for carbon-neutral construction focus on the number of wooden elements in buildings rather than more general indicators, such as the amount of wood construction, or even detailed indirect indicators, such as building type, wood type or building size. A practical scenario is proposed for use by European decision-makers, and the role of wood in green building certification is discussed.

Background: Current climate change mitigation policies, including the Paris Agreement, are based on territorial greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting. This neglects the understanding of GHG emissions embodied in trade. As a solution, consumption-based accounting (CBA) that reveals the lifecycle emissions, including transboundary flows, is gaining support as a complementary information tool. CBA is particularly relevant in cities that tend to outsource a large part of their production-based emissions to their hinterlands. While CBA has so far been used relatively little in practical policymaking, it has been used widely by scientists. Methods and design: The purpose of this systematic review, which covers more than 100 studies, is to reflect the policy implications of consumption-based carbon footprint (CBCF) studies at different spatial scales. The review was conducted by reading through the discussion sections of the reviewed studies and systematically collecting the given policy suggestions for different spatial scales. We used both numerical and qualitative methods to organize and interpret the findings of the review. Review results and discussion: The motivation for the review was to investigate whether the unique consumption perspective of CBA leads to similarly unique policy features. We found that various carbon pricing policies are the most widely supported policy instrument in the relevant literature. However, overall, there is a shortage of discussion on policy instruments, since the policy discussions focus on policy outcomes, such as behavioral change or technological solutions. In addition, some policy recommendations are conflicting. Particularly, urban density and compact city policies are supported by some studies and questioned by others. To clarify the issue, we examined how the results regarding the relationship between urban development and the CBCF vary. The review provides a concise starting point for policymakers and future research by summarizing the timely policy implications.

Activity space (AS) is a measure of spatial behavior used to summarize the mobility behavior of individuals. Current studies often highlight the fact that AS is highly complex and multidimensional in character. Therefore, the need for more holistic approaches providing more comprehensive descriptions of mobility patterns is evident. This article assesses the activity spaces of young adults aged 25–40 living in the Helsinki metropolitan area using a dataset collected with an online map survey. Using a wide range of measurements covering different aspects of AS, we identified seven components that define activity spaces, namely size, intensity of activities, volume of trips, exteriority, polycentricity, elongation, and destination specialization. We then used the components together with travel mode use to identify a typology of daily mobility patterns. The results show that individuals with different types of AS differ significantly in their socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, employment, household characteristics, and residential neighborhood. Furthermore, the study reveals interesting associations between AS characteristics and different aspects of wellbeing. Overall, the results highlight the importance of multidimensional and comprehensive approaches to understanding daily mobility of urban residents.

Climate change mitigation in the built environment encompasses various mitigation measures, such as energy efficient buildings, spatial planning instruments and other policies targeting the emissions resulting from transport. However, studies on the impacts of these measures typically only focus on a single emission source, such as housing energy or transport. The thesis enlightens, why the focus on the targeted emissions alone is misguiding in many cases. The key concept of the thesis is the rebound effect. While mitigation measures often reduce the targeted emissions, they have unintended consequences due to shifts in consumption. These unintended consequences are called rebound effect. The thesis contributes to carbon footprint research in the built environment and supports the earlier findings that urban structure has a weak or even statistically insignificant connection to total carbon footprints, despite having a relatively strong effect on driving-related emissions. The thesis explains this phenomenon via the rebound effects for reduced car ownership and driving, but also by means of other issues covered in the thesis. In Finland, which is the geographical scope of the thesis, the benefits of intra-household sharing are stronger in suburban areas than in inner urban areas, which alleviates the harmful effects of urban sprawl. Furthermore, new energy efficient housing has reduced carbon footprints in outer urban areas but not in inner urban areas. While the effect of urban structure appears low, direct reduction of driving, energy efficient housing and the sharing of greenhouse gas intensive goods and services seem to reduce carbon footprints significantly. The thesis aims to bridge the gap between studies on theoretical rebound effects and studies on empirical carbon footprints within the context of the built environment. Rebound effects are usually studied with econometric modelling, whereas carbon footprint studies are based on the real expenditure of consumers. A carbon footprint-based definition for rebound effect is presented as the theoretical implication of the thesis. This graphic presentation could be used for rigorous empirical testing of rebound theories by using carbon footprints when longitudinal data are available. In practice, the thesis demonstrates the ways in which cross-sectional carbon footprints can be employed to estimate probable rebound effects., Mótvægisaðgerðir loftslagsbreytinga sem viðkoma hinu byggða umhverfi innifela orkusparandi byggingar, breyttar skipulagsáætlanir auk annarra aðgerða sem draga úr losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda frá samgöngum. Árangur og áhrif mótvægisaðgerða miða hins vegar oftast við eina uppsprettu losunar, t.d. húshitun eða samgöngur, óháð öðrum uppsprettum. Þessi rannsókn sýnir hvernig slík nálgun getur leitt til villandi niðurstaðna í mörgum tilfellum. Aðal viðfangsefni þessarar ritgerðar eru hliðaráhrif mótvægisaðgerða. Þó tilteknar mótvægisaðgerðir dragi úr losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda í þeim geira þar sem þeim er beitt, þá geta þær haft neikvæð hliðaráhrif (e. rebound effects) vegna hliðrunar á neyslu. Ritgerðin er framlag til rannsókna á kolefnisspori hins byggða umhverfis. Niðurstöður ritgerðarinnar styðja fyrri rannsóknir sem sýna að byggðamynstur hafi veika, eða jafnvel tölfræðilega ómarktæka, fylgni við heildar kolefnisspor, þrátt fyrir að hafa tiltölulega mikil áhrif á losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda vegna aksturs bifreiða. Í ritgerðinni er þetta útskýrt með greiningu á hliðaráhrifum vegna minni bifreiðaeignar og minni aksturs, auk annarra áhrifa sem fjallað er um í ritgerðinni. Í Finlandi, sem er rannsóknarsvið ritgerðarinnar, eru Jákvæð jákvæð samlegðaráhrif innan heimila eru meiri í úthverfum en miðborgum, sem dregur úr neikvæðum áhrifum strjállar byggðar á kolefnisspor. Enn fremur, þá hafa nýjar og hagkvæmari byggingar, sem nýta orku betur, dregið úr kolefnisspori úthverfa en ekki miðbæjarkjarna. Þrátt fyrir að áhrif byggðamynsturs séu í sjálfu sér lítil þá virðast minni akstur bifreiða, orkusparandi húsnæði og samnýting á vörum og þjónustu sem losa gróðurhúsalofttegundir hafa marktæk áhrif til að draga úr kolefnisspori byggðs umhverfis. Í ritgerðinni er leitast við að brúa bilið á milli fræðilegra rannsókna á hliðaráhrifum og reynslurannsókna á kolefnissporum innan hins byggða umhverfis. Hliðaráhrif eru yfirleitt rannsökuð með aðferðum hagrannsókna þar sem kolefnisspor eru tengd raunverulegum útgjöldum neytenda. Hluti af fræðilegu framlagi þessarar rannsóknar er skilgreining á hliðaráhrifum sem byggir á kolefnisspori. Hægt er að nota skilgreininguna til ítarlegri rannsókna á hliðaráhrifum þegar gögn eru til sem spanna mörg tímabil. Ritgerðin sýnir einnig hvernig má nota kolefnisspor, sem mæld eru á einum tímapunkti, á hagnýtan hátt til að meta líkleg hliðaráhrif til lengri tíma.

Den uppdaterade guiden innehåller anvisningar om myndighetstillsynen för att förhindra utsläpp i atmosfären av gaser som bryter ned ozonskiktet och F-gaser som förstärker växthuseffekten. Tillsynen utgår från Europaparlamentets och rådets förordning (EG) nr 1005/2009 om ämnen som bryter ned ozonskiktet (ozonförordningen) samt förordning (EG) nr 517/2014 om vissa fluorerade växthusgaser (F-gasförordningen). I Finland har tillsynen enligt dessa förordningar och behörighetsvillkoren i anknytning till dem fastställs i miljöskyddslagen (527/2014) och statsrådets förordning 452/2009 om underhåll av anläggningar som innehåller ämnen som bryter ned ozonskiktet samt vissa fluorerade växthusgaser. Förordningarna innehåller bestämmelser om skyldigheterna för ägare eller innehavare av anläggningar som innehåller ämnen som bryter ned ozonskiktet eller F-gaser samt om behörighetsvillkoren för personer eller företag som utför underhåll på anläggningarna. Förordningarnas tillsynsmyndigheter är NTM-centralerna och de kommunala miljöskyddsmyndigheterna samt hälsoskyddsmyndigheterna, livsmedelstillsynsmyndigheterna och tillsynsmyndigheterna för konsumtionsvaror och konsumenttjänster, vilka ser till att förordningen efterlevs inom de egna verksamhetsområdena. Denna guide kan användas av alla tillsynsmyndigheterna. Guiden beskriver tillsynsarbetet ur ett praktiskt perspektiv och ger anvisningar för fall där brister observeras vid inspektionen. I guiden finns även kortfattad information om avfallshanteringen av anläggningar som innehåller ozonnedbrytande ämnen och F-gaser.

Päivitetyssä oppaassa esitetään ohjeita viranomaisvalvontaan, jonka avulla ehkäistään otsonikerrosta tuhoavien kaasujen ja kasvihuoneilmiötä voimistavien F-kaasujen päästöjä ilmakehään. Valvonta perustuu Euroopan parlamentin ja neuvoston asetukseen (EY) N:o 1005/2009 otsonikerrosta heikentävistä aineista (otsoniasetus) sekä asetukseen (EY) N:o 517/2014 tietyistä fluoratuista kasvihuonekaasuista (F-kaasuasetus). Näiden asetusten valvonnasta ja niihin liittyvistä pätevyysvaatimuksista on Suomessa säädetty ympäristönsuojelulaissa (527/2014) sekä valtioneuvoston asetuksella 452/2009 otsonikerrosta heikentäviä aineita ja eräitä fluorattuja kasvihuonekaasuja sisältävien laitteiden huollosta. Asetuksissa on säädetty otsonikerrosta tuhoavia aineita tai F-kaasuja sisältävien laitteiden omistajan tai haltijan velvollisuuksista sekä laitteita huoltavan henkilön tai yrityksen pätevyysvaatimuksista. Asetusten valvovia viranomaisia ovat ELY-keskukset ja kuntien ympäristönsuojeluviranomaiset sekä terveydensuojeluviranomaiset, elintarvikevalvontaviranomaiset ja kulutustavaroiden ja kuluttajapalveluiden valvontaviranomaiset, jotka valvovat asetuksen noudattamista omilla toimialoillaan. Tämä opas sopii kaikille valvontaviranomaisille. Oppaassa kerrotaan käytännönläheisesti valvontatyöstä ja annetaan toimintaohjeet tilanteeseen, jossa tarkastuksessa havaitaan puute. Oppaassa kerrotaan myös lyhyesti otsonikerrosta tuhoavia ja F-kaasuja sisältävien laitteiden jätehuollosta.