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City of Porvoo invests in the green transition of local businesses

City of Porvoo has set up a €10 million Green Transition Fund to accelerate the green transition of local companies and support the creation of new business opportunities. In addition to the fund, the city is also launching a climate partnership model and joining the national circular economy green deal.

Published: 6.6.2024

Last year, the Porvoo City Council decided to set up a €10 million Green Transition Fund to support the green transition on local businesses. The fund is aimed at SMEs operating in Porvoo, but it can also support activities under the city’s climate and environment programme. The purpose is to stimulate the potential of this transformation and strengthen our collective competitiveness.

The first call for applications will be opened as soon as formal decision making process is complete. The first call will serve as a pilot. Direct business grants cannot be paid, but the funding can be used to cover costs such as salaries and clearance costs in line with the funding criteria. The aim is to make the fund as versatile as possible over the next 10 years.

The fund is also intended to act as a counterpart to other funding, multiplying its impact. The aim is to support genuine leaps forward and find new solutions that will also benefit the wider value chain. The use and effectiveness of the funding will be actively monitored and specific calls on different themes and needs can be opended when necessary.

– We hope that companies will take advantage of the opportunities this funding offers, says Minna Kajaste, business developer at the City of Porvoo.

The first climate partnerships launched

Alongside the new fund, City of Porvoo is launching also another green transition tool for businesses. Porvoo’s new climate partnership model is a low-threshold network for businesses and other organisations to support the building of climate and environmental knowledge.

The climate partnership is entirely voluntary and free of charge for the partners. The first partner companies have been involved in building the model.

– The climate partners form a network of pioneers that the city supports in developing green and sustainable business, taking over expertise and knowledge, co-development and building its own climate and environmental image,” says Sanna Päivärinta, the city’s sustainability expert.

Climate partners are required to set their own climate and environmental targets. In return, the city offers the organisation, among other things, the Porvoo Climate Partner label.

The climate partnership model has been developed as part of the Co2Jump climate partnership project, funded from the European Regional Development Fund. The development company Posintra and Laurea University of Applied Sciences are in charge of the project.

Porvoo among the first to join the circular economy green deal

At its meeting on 20 May 2024, the Porvoo City Government decided on the objectives and measures to be taken by the city to move towards the national circular economy green deal, led by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.

– The built environment and the related circular economy are the starting point for the city’s sustainable growth. The city’s commitment is therefore focused on the circular economy of land masses and the versatile use of the city’s facilities, thus increasing the utilisation rate of the facilities, says Päivärinta.

In the next phase, a scientific evaluation team of scientists will assess the city’s commitment against national targets. Based on the recommendations of the evaluation team, the ministries will either accept or reject the city’s commitment or propose additions to it.

A pioneer in climate work

Porvoo is a growing city of about 50 000 inhabitants and 4200 businesses, an hour’s drive away from the centre of Helsinki. Porvoo’s diverse business districts include the boutiques of Old Porvoo and Kilpilahti – the largest oil refining and petrochemical cluster in the Nordic countries – which is becoming the most important hub for the circular economy in Northern Europe. Porvoo’s ambitious climate work has made it one of the climate pioneers in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region.