Mehiläinen’s science-based targets for reducing emissions approved as the first social care and healthcare services provider in Finland

The international Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has approved Mehiläinen’s short-term climate targets. Companies committed to the initiative set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. Mehiläinen is the first social care and healthcare service provider in Finland to set science-based targets.

Climate-resilient healthcare and social care is an important part of Mehiläinen’s sustainability programme. We take responsibility in mitigating the climate crisis by systemically reducing Mehiläinen’s environmental and climate impacts.

– We are committed to combating climate change and reducing the impact of our activities on our shared living environment. Our short-term emissions reduction targets are ambitious: Mehiläinen wants to lead the way in climate activities in healthcare. Achieving the targets requires not only that we develop our practices but also that we engage in close cooperation with our entire value chain, says Satu Suominen, Procurement Director at Mehiläinen.

Mehiläinen’s targets

Mehiläinen is committed to the following targets:

1. We will reduce our absolute direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 80% by 2030 from a 2023 base year.*
2. We will reduce our indirect GHG emissions (Scope 3) from purchased products and services by 51.6% per EUR value added within the same timeframe.

The adopted targets must be consistent with the reduction of GHG emissions required to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 °C or well below 2 °C compared to the pre-industrial level.

– Achieving the reduction targets requires electricity generated from renewable energy sources only and carbon-free heating in properties. In Finland, we have already made several heating system changes by discontinuing the use of oil and gas in heating as part of our emission target, says Aleksi Muukkonen, Director of Real Estate at Mehiläinen.

– We work closely with our suppliers in order to reduce emissions from purchased products and services. When selecting suppliers and products, we address sustainability and also encourage our partners to commit to science-based climate targets, concludes Suominen.

*) The target boundary includes land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks.

What is the Science Based Targets initiative?

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is an international organisation that enables companies to engage in combating the climate crisis. With SBTi, companies can ensure that their climate activities support the Paris Agreement’s global target of halving GHG emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

The targets of the companies engaged in the initiative are available on the SBTi websiteExternal link. Companies report the progress of their targets to the SBTi.