Finnish port
Credit: Jyrki Lyytikkä / Yle

Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing Kimmo Tiilikainen has proposed that Finland should move up its ban on coal-burning for power to 2025. The government had previously agreed on a 2030 date for phasing out the fossil fuel in the country’s energy market.

Finland’s Environment, Energy and Housing Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen wants Finland to rid itself of coal-burning power plants in the next seven years. The Ministry of Employment and the Economy is currently considering a 2030 cut-off date, but Tiilikainen announced on Saturday that he is going to spearhead efforts to bump up the deadline to 2025.

In an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company, the minister justified his proposal by citing figures from Statistics Finland that indicate that greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise. The state-owned number cruncher reported in December 2017 that Finland’s carbon dioxide emissions were up by six percent in 2016, compared with the previous year. The main reason for the increase was an unexpected rise in coal burning for electricity and heating.