Decarbonisation of the Nordics

All the Nordic countries have ambitious targets for decarbonisation of their economy. Moreover, the Nordic Council of Ministers has a vision for a decarbonised Nordic region, signed by all heads of state.  

However, current policies reveal a gap between expected emission reductions and national decarbonisation targets. This gap appears due to a lack of concrete plans on how to reach these ambitious targets, especially for the individual residential heating, transport and industry sectors.

We have taken a three-step approach to determine the roadmap for decarbonisation for each of the Nordic countries:

• Determine the gap between current policies and political decarbonisation targets
• Explore the technologies and options to decarbonise including sectoral, timing and country-level differences
• Identify the political initiatives which can help deliver on the decarbonisation targets while ensuring a smooth and cost-effective transition

The proposed policy initiatives have three main components that can help deliver on the Nordic decarbonisation targets:

• Establish a credible carbon pricing framework
• Targeted support for promising technologies
• Integration of power markets and better regulation models for TSOs/DSOs

The study is commissioned by Fortum corporation.