The new Finnish centre-left government set its ambitions high when it took office in June 2019: by 2035, the Nordic country should achieve zero-carbon emissions, 15 years ahead of what the European Commission has proposed as an objective for the entire European Union.

With the Finnish national 2020 budget now being adopted, this climate objective also translates into excellent news for zero-carbon transport, including walking and cycling:

• The central government will invest an additional € 10 million for cycling and walking on state owned infrastructure (the current budget is about € 20-30 million / year);
• Another € 21 million euros will be allocated as subsidies for towns and cities to build better cycling and walking infrastructure, up from €3.5 million on 2019.  The co-funding rate is up to 50 % of the cost of the project, so triggering at least another €21 million from local authorities.
• In addition to central government funding, also the capital city Helsinki is making big investments in cycling: in 2020 alone, € 19.5 million will flow into the further upgrade of cycling infrastructure.

To sum up: in 2020 the central government will invest about € 50 million into walking and cycling, up from € 20-30 million in 2019. The new investments equal to about 9 € per capita, making the Nordic country one of best performers regarding central government investments.

*Walking and cycling

The Finnish Cyclists’ Federation, member of the ECF, was instrumental in achieving this sea change. Established only 5 years ago in 2014 after having received some seed funding from ECF, the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation has matured into a vocal advocacy group. Its President, Matti Koistinen, states: “I do not believe that this increase in investments would have happened without the work of the Finnish Cyclists' Federation. We are catching up quickly with other fore-runner countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands.”

Finnish EU Presidency

As current holder of the EU Presidency, Finland can also make a big difference at the European level, in particular with regard to the issue of bicycle carriage on trains (Railway Passenger Rights Regulation) and on the question of whether or not to include the pedelec-25 into the scope of the Motor Insurance Directive. In both cases, ECF urges Member States to rally behind the plenary votes of the European Parliament.

Link:

Transport Ministry press release: https://www.lvm.fi/en/-/additional-funding-for-climate-action-and-basic-transport-infrastructure-management-in-the-budget-of-the-ministry-of-transport-and-communicat-1020190

ECF on Railway Passenger Rights Regulation: https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/european-parliament-backs-eight-spaces-bicycles-trains

ECF Motor Insurance Directive: https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/european-parliament-officially-takes-its-position-exclude-pedelecs-mandatory