New Ympäristövahti website makes Helsinki’s environmental work more transparent

The City of Helsinki’s environmental work is steered by the City’s Environmental Protection Targets 2040, which were recently updated to reflect the latest City Strategy and changes in legislation. As part of the update, the monitoring indicators and target years for targets that had not been achieved by 2025 were also reviewed.

The City of Helsinki’s efforts towards the environmental protection targets are organised into seven action programmes. These programmes promote the safeguarding of biodiversity; the protection of the Baltic Sea; litter control; the circular economy; air quality and noise abatement, the establishment of nature reserves, as well as climate change mitigation and adaptation.

You can now track the progress of these programmes on the new Ympäristövahti website. The website features Helsinki’s environmental protection targets and their indicators, the latest news on the action programmes and information on environmental protection measures. Monitoring of the climate programme can be found on the website Climate change affects everyone.

The Environmental Report details progress towards the City's environmental protection targets

The annually published Environmental Report provides information on the progress towards the City's environmental protection targets and the environmental impacts of its activities. The report also provides information on the progress of the key environmental protection programmes. The City Council discussed the 2025 Environmental Report at its meeting on Wednesday 23 September.

In June, the City reported that transport had become Helsinki’s most significant source of direct carbon dioxide emissions following the end of coal-fired power generation at the Hanasaari and Salmisaari power stations. Helsinki’s direct greenhouse gas emissions fell by 29% when compared to the previous year. Transport in Helsinki is rapidly becoming electrified, and by 2025 more than half of all bus journeys in Helsinki were powered by electricity. Helsinki aims is to achieve an 85% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040.

In 2025, five new nature reserves were established in Helsinki, in addition to which the City adopted a new, ambitious Nature Reserve Programme. The City’s aim is to have more than 10% of its land and water areas designated as nature reserves by 2038. At the end of 2025, there were 85 nature reserves in Helsinki, with a total area of 1,611.6 hectares. The ecological status of Helsinki's coastal waters is still avoidable, and even the chemical status falls short of the targets. However, water protection work is carried out effectively, for example, by implementing the joint Baltic Sea Action Plan of Helsinki and Turku and its 23 measures.