EU taxonomy and climate change mitigation

Climate change mitigation is one of the six objectives of the EU taxonomy. Istutapuita.fi operations promote two of the taxonomy objectives: we mitigate climate change and protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems. In this article, we discuss the objective of mitigating climate change. You can read more about the biodiversity objective in this blog post. Read more about what the EU taxonomy is, in this article.

A measure or an investment complies with the taxonomy if 1) it promotes at least one of the taxonomy’s six environmental objectives, and 2) does not cause significant harm to other objectives, and 3) is in accordance with the ethical principles of the UN, OECD and ILO. An activity that conforms to the taxonomy can either directly support an environmental objective or be a so-called enabling activity that enables an activity that directly supports the objective.

The significance of forests in controlling climate change

To review the impact of our actions on climate change, it is worth recalling what climate change is all about. Gases in the atmosphere let the sun light enter the atmosphere, but prevent some of the heat from escaping back into space. This phenomenon enables life on Earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the average temperatures on Earth would be nearly twenty degrees below zero.

Human activity has, however, increased the gases in the atmosphere very rapidly and less and less heat can escape back into space, leading to global warming.

To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees in accordance with the Paris climate agreement, it is also vital to absorb atmospheric gases back to the earth in addition to reducing emissions. More than 80 percent of the gases released into the atmosphere by human activity are carbon dioxide. One of the best ways to absorb carbon dioxide is to create carbon sinks by growing and protecting forests. The significance of forests is also made clear by the fact that the elimination of tropical forests increases carbon dioxide more than cars and trucks on all the world’s roads combined.

How our actions mitigate climate change

We plant tree seedlings on former peat production areas, which would not become carbon sinks for decades without our forestry management measures and tree planting. Peat is low in potassium and phosphorus but rich in nitrogen, so the vegetation growing naturally on former peatlands quickly dies due to a lack of mineral nutrients.

Not only do our trees absorb carbon dioxide, they also prevent the peatlands from releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This way our operations have two effects: reducing carbon dioxide emissions and absorbing carbon dioxide.

According to a calculation by Natural Resources Institute Finland, one tree we plant absorbs 594 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere over a hundred years. Using our service for planting trees is therefore a very tangible and easy way to mitigate climate change.

Do you want to take concrete actions to mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity? Plant trees with us!