Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in Finland

This report is part of Finland's National Inventory report to the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report presents the methodologies, activity data and emission factors used in the compilation of the Finnish inventories for the years 1990-1999, as well as the estimated emissions for those years. A preliminary identification of the key sources in the Finnish inventory for the year 1999 is also given. The total Finnish anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 1999 were about 76.2 Tg CO2 equivalents, which is about 1 % lower than in 1990. The most important source of the emissions is fuel combustion, which causes about 80 % of the emissions. The emissions from fuel combustion have grown with more than 6 % since 1990. Agriculture is also an important source of greenhouse gas emissions in Finland and contributed about 10 % to the total greenhouse gas emissions in Finland in 1999. The agricultural emissions have declined approximately 25 % since 1990. The importance of the waste sector as a contributor to Finnish greenhouse gas emissions has also declined much during the 1990s (1990: 5 % and 1999: 2 % of the total emissions). The Land-use change and forestry (removals) sector has constituted at net sink during the whole 1990s. In 1999 this sink was estimated to be about 10.8 Tg CO2. Identification of the so-called key sources of the Finnish inventory is preliminary and will be improved in the coming years. In the improvement of the accuracy of the inventory the key sources should be prioritised. Most of the 26 identified key sources are energy related, but also 5 agricultural, 2 industrial, 1 waste and 1 other key source were identified. The methodologies used in the compilation of the Finnish inventory are largely consistent with the IPCC Guidelines and good practice guidance. Some needs to improve the methodologies, have, however, been identified. Continuous improvement of the activity and emission factor data is also seen as important.