Finnish Meteorological Institute’s 2023 sustainability report published
The third sustainability report describes the handprint and footprint from the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s operations.
The handprint is linked to four of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
The report also contains information about environmental responsibility, social and economic responsibility, and research responsibility.
In 2023, the Finnish Meteorological Institute promoted its sustainability goals in a variety of ways
We took various measures to promote the SDGs in 2023. For example, we expanded our Air quality in Finland service by adding black carbon, i.e. soot. Black carbon concentrations can now be monitored in real time via our online service. Black carbon is an air pollutant harmful to human health that contributes to climate change.
In addition, a weather forecast for Finland prepared by a meteorologist was added to the range of open data based on user requests. The Finnish Meteorological Institute’s open data has already been available for ten years.
We also continued our cooperation with the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute. In 2023, the SmartMet Alert tool developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute was introduced in Ukraine, and we provided training on the use of the tool to Ukrainian meteorologists and specialists in oceanographic services. A scientific study on the effects of the war on air quality in Ukraine was published as part of the project.
In 2023, we invested in staff wellbeing, the maintenance of working capacity and competence development in a variety of ways. For example, the range of occupational health care services was expanded by introducing services that support mental health in particular.
We developed our sustainability programme by, for example, arranging workshops on materiality analyses for supervisors and personnel.
“In the past year, the Finnish Meteorological Institute sharpened its sustainability operations, which is also reflected in the sustainability report. The report contains examples of our services with a large handprint, but we also look at our own operations from a sustainability footprint perspective”, explains Juhana Hyrkkänen, Director, Weather, Sea and Climate Service Centre and a member of the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s sustainability team.
Read more about the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s measures to promote sustainability and the SDGs in the sustainability report 2023 (pdf)