From Reporting to Strategic Planning: Tampere Strengthens Climate and Biodiversity Budgeting

The City of Tampere has taken an important step forward in integrating climate and biodiversity objectives into financial planning through its participation in the Climate-4-CAST PILOT. Building on several years of experience with climate budgeting, the city has developed its climate budget from a reporting instrument into a more effective tool for planning, prioritisation, and decision-making. At the same time, the city is expanding its approach by introducing a biodiversity budget as part of the 2027 budget preparation process, further strengthening the integration of sustainability objectives into financial planning.

Climate and Biodiversity Objectives Integrated into Budget Planning

Tampere has included a climate budget as part of its official budget process since 2020. Traditionally, the climate budget has helped monitor climate actions, funding allocations, and progress towards the city’s carbon neutrality target. Through the Climate-4-CAST pilot, the focus was expanded from monitoring past activities towards proactively planning future action and assessing whether available funding is sufficient to achieve climate goals and implementation of planned measures. The pilot also supported the development of the city’s first biodiversity budget, bringing nature-related objectives into the same strategic planning and budgeting framework.

A key change was that climate, and biodiversity measures began to be reviewed earlier in the city’s financial planning process, during the spring budget framework negotiations. City departments now assess the resources needed to implement planned measures over the coming years and identify where additional investment may be required. During budget framework negotiations, measures can be reviewed, prioritised, and discussed before final budget decisions are made. This helps ensure that climate and biodiversity objectives are considered at the point where financial decisions are taken, rather than only after budgets have already been approved.

Prioritising Actions and Securing Funding

To support decision-making, Tampere also introduced practical prioritisation approaches for both climate and biodiversity actions. Climate measures are evaluated according to factors such as their contribution to climate targets, emission reduction potential, relevance to critical sectors, costs, and wider societal benefits. Biodiversity measures were assessed using expert evaluation, while a more systematic set of evaluation criteria was also developed to strengthen the prioritisation of nature-related actions in future budgeting processes. These approaches help identify the most impactful actions and improve the allocation of limited resources.

One of the most encouraging outcomes has been the ability to secure additional funding for climate and biodiversity measures despite a challenging economic context. During the preparation of the 2027 budget, several climate and biodiversity actions received new funding. Additional resources were directed to measures across multiple sectors, including sustainable mobility, energy transition, circular economy solutions, urban green infrastructure, and nature protection.

A Practical Tool for Delivering Strategic Goals

The experience from the Climate-4-CAST pilot demonstrates that climate and biodiversity budgeting can be much more than a reporting requirement. When integrated into planning and budgeting processes, it becomes a practical governance tool that helps prioritise actions, identify funding gaps, and ensure that strategic climate and biodiversity goals are translated into concrete implementation. As Tampere continues to update its climate and biodiversity plans, and assess the measures needed to reach its targets, climate and biodiversity budgeting will play an increasingly important role in guiding the city’s transition towards a more sustainable future.

Writers: Hanna Meriläinen & Emmi Nieminen

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