As proud competitors for the city, the Lahti Pelicans want to contribute to Lahti’s 2021 year as European Green Capital. The team is committed to making hockey more sustainable and aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral hockey team.
Casimir Jürgens, the Pelicans’ Defender says, “We want to encourage everyone to get involved with their own contribution to climate change. We have to win this match together”.
The City of Lahti has set an ambitious carbon neutral target for 2025, which is ten years ahead of the national target and 25 years ahead of the EU's vision. In order to achieve its carbon neutrality goal, Lahti has undertaken some major city-wide changes including the abandonment of coal in the spring of 2019, which reduced Lahti Energia's carbon dioxide emissions by 600,000 tonnes per year, corresponding to the annual emissions of about 60,000 Finns.
To help contribute to Lahti’s carbon-neutral goals, the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) has been helping the Lahti Pelicans find ways to reduce their emissions. The team’s plan currently focuses on sustainable transport to and from games, and commitment to a team ban on air travel. In Europe, transport currently accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. The European Green Deal includes a goal to reduce these transport emissions by 90% by 2050. Achieving these ambitious climate goals will require a shift to more sustainable transport modes including rail and inland waterways. Another objective is to boost the uptake of clean vehicles and alternative fuels. Improving efficiency across the whole transport system is crucial.
In addition to the Pelicans’ commitment to sustainable mobility, the team has also been working hard on eliminating plastic packaging and cutlery in the stadium and using green energy to power their home arena. The Lahti Pelicans encourage the public to come to their games by public transport, bicycle or foot, as can be seen in their promotional video here.
Environmental actions on ice
“The Pelicans of the Bay want to be a pioneer both inside and outside the trough. We feel that combating climate change is crucial to the existence of our entire planet,” says Casimir Jürgens.
To help celebrate Lahti’s new year in 2021 as the European Green Capital, on 16 January 2021 the team rolled out a new line of jerseys with new game numbers for each player. As the smallest and northernmost European Green Capital, Lahti was designated with this prestigious Award for its pioneering solutions and ambitious targets.
The new player numbers highlight some of Lahti’s environmental facts and stats behind why it was awarded the prestigious designation of European Green Capital 2021:
- 61: Casimir Jürgens – 61% of Lahti is forest
- 70: Jasper Patrikainen – Lahti has cut its greenhouse emissions by 70% since 1990
- 19: Ryan Lasch – Lahti became coal-free in 2019
- 25: Niclas Almari – Lahti will be climate-neutral by 2025
- 8: Miro-Pekka Saarelainen – Lahti aims to have at least 8% of its total area protected by 2030
- 20: Jonathan Tanus – Lahti aims to be zero-waste city by 2050
- 9: Waltteri Merelä – Lahti’s waste recovery rate is 99%! Thanks to its circular economy
- 42: Otto Nieminen – 42% reduction in red meat in local school lunches since 2018.
This innovative way to display and highlight Lahti’s environmental accolades, the Pelicans hope, will engage fans and urge Lahti’s citizens to keep up their environmental best practices, and work with them for the environment. The new jerseys will be seen in yet another special match: in honour of Lahti’s European Green Capital year in 2021, where the people of Lahti will be invited to celebrate with them. The shirts will then be auctioned off and the proceeds used to support the Pelicans junior activities.
Citizen Diaries - Lahti - EU Green Capital
Valtteri Bottas began his career when he was just six years old, racing karts in his hometown of Nastola in Finland.
In the winter of 2016, Eetu Floor was walking to a friend’s band practice in Lahti. On his way there, he chose a shortcut through the industrial area of Sopenkorpi where he found an overgrown industrial track and plot.
The Lahti Pelicans is a Finnish professional ice hockey team that plays for the City of Lahti, in the ‘Liiga’, Finland’s top professional ice hockey league.
Emmi Valli-Forsback from Lahti buys almost all of her family’s clothing and household goods second-hand; and rents a market stall to sell on what she no longer needs. She rarely considers buying something new if she can find it second-hand.
Bee doctor Kamran Fakhimzadeh knows what a miracle honey is: to produce a kilo of it, bees have to visit up to ten million flowers. At the same time, bees do us a huge favour by pollinating vegetables and fruit and berry plants.
Rikka-Liisa Aalto has always picked up litter in her local area. After becoming a mother, she started picking up litter almost every day. The Puhdas Päijät-Häme network was born out of a desire to make a connection with other people who care about the environment.
In 2015, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Sibelius Hall, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra initiated a project to help the City of Lahti reach its carbon emission reduction goals.
Fashion designer and entrepreneur Riikka Flink has been observing the clothing industry for over 30 years. She believes that ecology, sustainability, and responsibility are possible when production is closely monitored.
Related links
In 2021, Lahti, Finland, stood at the forefront of sustainability as the European Green Capital. The city set new standards in clean energy, circular economy, and green urban living.