Finland | Good News For Humankind

World’s largest air-to-water heat pump to warm 30,000 homes in Finland

By Peter Schulte / August 31, 2024

Finland’s capital city, Helsinki, is building the world’s largest heat pump to keep as many as 30,000 homes warm in the winter while reducing carbon emissions. The pump can operate at temperatures as low as -4 Fahrenheit (-20 degrees Celsius) while being powered by only renewable energy sources. Unlike furnaces or air conditioners, which work well in a single season, heat pumps are more energy efficient and can work in all climates.

Free contraception initiative helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

By Peter Schulte / June 4, 2024

The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, leading the Nordic country to make morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools. As a result, the number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period.

Helsinki University makes Parkinson’s disease breakthrough

By Peter Schulte / May 11, 2023

Scientists at the University of Helsinki have demonstrated that certain strains of bacteria are probable causes of Parkinson’s disease in most cases. This finding may make it possible to prevent the debilitating disease.

Finland passes law making it easier for trans people to change their legal gender

By Peter Schulte / February 8, 2023

The new laws mean transgender people aged 18 and older can legally change their gender by a process of self-declaration, and no longer have to go through an onerous medical and psychiatric approval process first.

Finland grew its wind power capacity by 75% in 2022

By Peter Schulte / January 30, 2023

Last year Finland built 427 new turbines with a combined power capacity of 2,430 megawatts. By 2025, wind is projected to cover at least 28% of the country’s power consumption.

Finish efforts to protect endangered seal pups proving successful

By Peter Schulte / October 11, 2022

A record number of Saimaa ringed seal pups were born this year, as tighter restrictions on fishing nets in the region led to fewer deaths.

World’s first commercial sand battery begins energy storage in Finland

By Peter Schulte / July 7, 2022

The company claims an efficiency factor up to 99 percent, a capability to store heat with minimal loss for months on end, and a lifespan in the decades.

Finland is the first country to pass a legally binding carbon negativity act

By Peter Schulte / June 7, 2022

Finland’s parliament recently passed a new Climate Change Act which legally binds it to its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2035 and negative emissions by 2040.

Finnish hockey club aims to become world’s first carbon-neutral team

By Peter Schulte / February 1, 2021

Lahti Pelicans, a Finnish ice hockey club, is championing for a carbon-free world. In celebration of Lahti’s crowning as the 2021 European Green Capital, the Pelicans set a goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral hockey club in the world.

Finland aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2035

By Peter Schulte / October 16, 2020

Finland has communicated its long-term low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission development strategy (LEDS) to the UNFCCC. Finland’s LEDS charts scenarios and impact assessments to achieve its 2035 carbon neutrality target, and reviews longer-term emissions reduction and removal opportunities by 2050.