Carbon footprint calculation guides to impactful choices
The carbon footprint of the National Land Survey of Finland will be calculated for the first time on the basis of the data for the current year in early 2025. All emission categories relevant to the National Land Survey of Finland are comprehensively taken into account in the calculation. The result of the carbon footprint calculation is an overall picture of the main emission sources of the National Land Survey of Finland. On the basis of the calculation, a plan will be drawn up for the most significant emission reduction measures.
“The carbon footprint is managed by data. Calculated data helps us choose the most effective measures to reduce our carbon footprint and thus develop our operations”, says Annukka Kokkonen, sustainability specialist, National Land Survey of Finland.
In connection with the carbon footprint calculation, a tool will be built, and by updating it, the National Land Survey of Finland can calculate its carbon footprint every year, obtain comparable data for the years and evaluate the progress of the work. The results of the development work will also be communicated to other central government parties.
“In a tight economic situation, we applied for and received Kaiku development grant from the State Treasury for the implementation of the project. Hopefully, other central government parties will also get ideas from our project for their own emissions reduction work”, continues Annukka Kokkonen.
A written procedure reduces the need to travel
One measure to reduce emissions already identified by the National Land Survey of Finland is to reduce the need to travel by extending the use of the written procedure. At the same time, this makes it easier for our customers to obtain services and improves the productivity of the National Land Survey of Finland’s operations.
Traditionally, matters belonging to a surveying procedure have been discussed at a meeting in the municipality where the surveyed property is located. In the written procedure, the parties receive a draft of the matters to be decided in the surveying procedure. If everyone approves the draft, decisions will be made without a meeting. The most typical surveying procedure completed as a written procedure is parcelling, where the measures agreed between the seller and the buyer in the deed of sale are carried out.
“More extensive use of the written procedure will reduce the need for both customers and cadastral surveyors to travel. Property owners are increasingly living in another municipality, and the trips to meetings can be long. The written procedure also gives the opportunity to access the documents in peace at home. Customers have mainly been very satisfied with the written procedure”, says Petri Notko, Director, National Land Survey of Finland.
The written procedure became possible during the corona pandemic and was issued for permanent use from 2022 onward. If there are disagreements, compensation issues or other matters to be resolved in the surveying procedure, a survey meeting will still be held. Also, when using the written procedure, the cadastral surveyor often visits the property to perform the necessary operations, such as taking measurements and setting the boundary markers.
“There are centuries of tradition for the meeting procedure. Now we train and encourage our staff to use the written procedure, and the challenge has been well received. In 2021, the written procedure was used for 4 per cent of all surveying procedures, while this year, from January to August, the percentage was already 13 per cent. Our goal is to use the written procedure whenever possible. In the next few years, the percentage of about 20 per cent of all surveying procedures is possible, and in the future, the percentage can be much higher”, says Petri Notko.
Saved kilometres can be illustrated with a computational example. The surveying procedure meeting, which could also be carried out by written procedure, is attended on average by at least two customers and the cadastral surveyor. If each participant’s round trip to the meeting were 100 kilometres, the use of the written procedure implemented in 2023 would have saved a total of 480,000 kilometres of driving.
Further information
Annukka Kokkonen, sustainability specialist, firstname.lastname@nls.fi
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