Incoming Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari (Green), considers the outcome of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which ended this weekend, to be better than expected in some ways.

Interviewed on Yle TV1 on Monday morning, Kari noted that while climate conferences often end in disappointment, progress is still being made.

"More than 150 countries have made new climate commitments and plan to update their emission reduction targets. That's something, but not enough," Kari said.

Kari stressed that the world is at a point in the climate crisis where action must go much further than at present. She pointed out that the fight against the crisis is taking place at all levels, including municipalities, companies and states.

"That is why it is important to maintain Finland's policy aimed at limiting warming to 1.5 degrees" Celsius above pre-industrial levels, she told Yle.

Based on the commitments made in Glasgow, global warming is estimated to rise by 2.4 degrees, well above what the parties committed to in the Paris Agreement of 2015. Finland has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2035.

Handover on Friday

Kari takes over as Environment Minister on Friday, as the Greens reshuffle their ministerial positions during party chair Maria Ohisalo's maternity leave. Kari will also take Ohisalo's seat among the cabinet's steering group of five party leaders, even though first-term MP Iiris Suomela will be the party's interim chair while Ohisalo is away.

Current Environment Minister Krista Mikkonen will take over Ohisalo's Interior Ministry portfolio.

Kari has been in Parliament since 2015, serving as the Greens delegation leader since early this year. She was an assistant to former environment minister and party chair Ville Niinistö, and chair of the parliamentary environmental committee. Kari has been a Helsinki City Councillor since 2008.