Ylva Joins Circular Economy Green Deal – A Commitment to Respect Nature and Future Generations, Preserve Cultural Heritage, and Promote Climate-Resilient Solutions
12.9.2024
A strategic, voluntary based commitment to promote low-carbon circular economy, involving businesses, municipalities, the government, and other organisations in Finland, called the Circular Economy Green Deal, was published on Thursday, September 12, 2024, at a launch event organised by the Ministry of the Environment.
In the commitment, organisations from various sectors of society in Finland pledge to pursue actions that advance low-carbon circular economy and report on these actions by 2035. Ylva is one of the signatories of this commitment.
A Significant Step Forward in Promoting the Circular Economy
Ylva’s operations focus on the real estate and restaurant sectors, both of which have been set circular economy objectives. Ylva’s Green Deal promise is built around the points “Regenerative Food System” and “Resource-Wise Built Environment” mentioned in the commitment. Ylva’s ownership strategy outlines that its operations will align with the Paris Climate Agreement’s 1.5-degree target by 2025.
“Our goal is however to grow towards restorative and regenerative business practices between 2025 and 2035, with the principles and tools of the circular economy becoming even more important in achieving this,” says Ylva’s Chief Impact Leader, Eelis Rytkönen.
Commitment as a Central Part of Ylva’s Business Operations
As part of the Circular Economy Green Deal, Ylva commits to increasing repairs in its real estate business, halving emissions from new construction, and ensuring that properties are used to their full potential by increasing space utilisation rates.
“We will increase the technical occupancy rate of our real estate portfolio from the current 78% to 95% by 2035 and develop a cost-effective occupancy rate metric, as we currently do not know the exact utilisation rate of our properties. We will increase the proportion of renovation construction to at least 80% by 2035, compared to approximately 45% in the years 2020–2024. However, if we end up building new, we will set the emissions baseline at the 2020 renovation construction level, which is about half the emissions level of our new construction,” explains Rytkönen.
“Within the framework of a resource-wise built environment, we commit to preserving the existing built environment by increasing occupancy rates, developing a cost-effective way to improve our utilisation rates, increasing the share of renovation construction in our projects, and setting the emission level of renovation construction as the target for new construction,” Rytkönen adds.
From the perspective of the restaurant business, Ylva commits to creating a more climate-resilient food culture and minimising the environmental impact of its sourcing. At the core of the Regenerative Food System framework is the promotion of fish- and plant-based food offerings.
“We completely eliminated beef from our menu offerings back in 2019 because it is the highest-emission protein, and since then, we have actively increased the proportion of vegan food. In the Green Deal, we now commit to increasing the share of vegan food in our restaurants to 60% and reducing the average carbon footprint of a lunch to 0.5 kg CO2e per meal. In 2023, the corresponding share of vegan lunches was 45%, and their average emissions were 0.64 kg CO2e per meal. We believe we will reach this new level by 2035, particularly by developing even more attractive and delicious vegan recipes,” adds Rytkönen.
Read more about the Circular Economy Green Deal on the Ministry of the Environment’s website.
More information:
Eelis Rytkönen
Chief Impact Leader
eelis.rytkonen@ylva.fi
+358 40 550 2477
