The Isamaa-Center Party Tallinn City Government plans to review all the development plans prepared by the previous ruling coalition in the Estonian capital.

Among the planned cuts are a number of projects related to the green turn, with a dozen city employees whose roles focus on climate issues also set to be laid off.

"Climate policy or green policy exists at the European level, but it also exists at the national level. In our view, the City of Tallinn does not need to produce this independently at the expense of its citizens," said Tallinn Mayor Peeter Raudsepp (Isamaa).

"The employees of this department will be laid off, or rather, we will liquidate what is known as the sustainable and energy-efficient city department," Raudsepp added.

The resources freed up as a result will then be directed toward district governments to be used for issues that directly benefit residents, including the supervision of waste collection. For Center Party Chair Mihhail Kõlvart, who was actively involved in climate issues during his previous term as Tallinn mayor just a few years ago, it marks a major shift in policy.

"Even within the European Union, these plans are now being viewed differently than they were five or ten years ago. We definitely have to acknowledge reality and review our plans based on that reality," said Kõlvart.

Tallinn will not become climate neutral by 2050.

"This issue of whether Europe is capable of doing this has to be addressed more broadly, and, in fact, it is not. I think Europe has more or less acknowledged this, and so our attitude and approach also have to be honest," said Kõlvart.

Previous Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE), said the change of direction would set the capital back a decade in terms of its development and that no financial savings can be expected as a result.

"As of today, most of the European Union funding is linked, in one way or another, to environmental policy in cities: sustainability, sustainable mobility and other issues of that kind. During this period, the new city government is already giving up nearly €50 million in EU funds that have been earmarked for us. Of course, if we cancel our entire environmental management framework in what is an ideological gesture, then Tallinn can kiss its EU funding for the new period goodbye," Ossinovski said.

"The activities that have been planned so far and the plans that have been drawn up, are actually based on years of work. They are based on experts' input and they are based on very broad level of involvement. It seems that Tallinn's new city government has taken such an enthusiastic approach to not liking green politics," said Ivo Krustok, senior researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Center.

According to Ossinovski, the same fate awaits the entire country should Isamaa and the Center Party also come to power in the Riigikogu.

"I have no reason to be optimistic that that will not be the case. When we see how, in the space of a month, a system that has been built up over almost a decade in Tallinn is essentially being dismantled, then the fact that there may also be the same kind of risk at the national level, with losses again adding up to hundreds of millions, is certainly a realistic prospect," said Ossinovski.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!