Ministers underline measures against black coal

Environment ministers of the eight Arctic countries on Friday said they want to reduce the amount of black coal, which speed up the melting of ice and snow in the Arctic area.

The ministers wound up a two-day conference in Rovaniemi. They also addressed protection of biodiversity and welcomed the recent treaty on banning unregulated fishing in central Arctic sea.

The ministers also discussed the need to increase cooperation on adaptation and on strengthening the resilience when faced with climate change.

Finnish Minister of the Environment Kimmo Tiilikainen told media that the intention is that observer countries would also join the effort to curb black coal.

Tiilikainen elaborated that emissions of black coal are not durable and thus they are easier to control. Black coal does not accumulate in the atmosphere in the way carbon-dioxide does.

The Finnish measures against black coal include, for example, the use of cleaner fuels in shipping. But Finland is not planning to curtail the use of timber in household furnaces for heating. Tiilikainen assured that wood is actually a renewable energy source.

Norwegian Environment Minister Ola Elvestuen said Norway is to ban fossil-based heating oil in 2022.

Dmitry Kobylkin, Russian Minister for Natural Resources, warned during the conference about the current international situation. He said political tension is "even more dangerous than the climate change". He noted though that everyone will feel the effect of the climate change "pretty soon".

Representing the United States, Judith Garber, Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment and Science, underlined that the U.S. is not "anti-environment". She said the U.S. national security strategy guides that the country continues as a leader in the environmental sector and works for the reduction of greenhouse gases.