Speech Intervent Harkimo

Speech by Ms. Leena Harkimo, MP (Finland) at the 18. BSPC ConferenceON ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGEIt was very rewarding and useful to take part in the work of the WG on Energy and Climate Change. Plenty of interesting presentations, study visits and good exchange of views. The only complaint would regard the absence of Russian representatives.We realized that public awareness of energy and climate issues and their mutual interdependence is growing. At the same time we took notice of the fact that much remains to be done for satisfying the demand of information concerning – for instance – energy efficiency of houses and energy saving issues generally. Information campaigns are called for. Schools have an important task in educating young people to act in the spirit of ecological sustainability.In Finland, like probably most other countries, budget posts related to the challenges of climate change are spread over a number of ministries and agencies which makes it quite difficult to get a clear picture of public expenditure and regulatory instruments in this field. It might be a good idea to regroup these expenses in such a way as to allow an overview. It would be helpful for us parliamentarians, and also for the general public.Improved energy efficiency is undoubtedly the best and most cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases and other harmful substances like small particles with dangerous long-term health effects. Here we should focus on houses and cars.The use of waste for energy production is an important, mostly untapped resource. In Finland, for instance, only about 9 per cent of the waste is reused for energy generation, while in Sweden the corresponding figure is as high as 47 per cent.We as parliamentarians and often also as decision makers on the local level have an important task in promoting energy efficiency and energy saving in public procurement.Many Baltic Sea countries, including Finland, have an enormous potential for renewable energy in our forests the use of which could be increased in the energy production. The small particles problem, connected with the burning of wood, is easier to handle in big units like power stations as compared to one-family-houses.Wind energy has its merits above all in areas where winds are strong and steady. Denmark is such a place with an average wind speed of 7 meters per second - Finland to a lesser extent, with an average wind speed of some three meters in the second only.Natural gas is a fairly clean source of energy. Consequently, the use of gas should be promoted more vigorously than the use of oil or coal.