Annual report 2017

Steady growth globally

Ten new climate projects

EKOenergy in China

Table of content

1. Introduction: 100%.............................................................................................................. 42. 2017 in a nutshell: climate, biodiversity & cooperation....................................................... 4

2.1 Promotion of a 100% renewable world.................................................................... 4 2.2 Protecting biodiversity............................................................................................. 5 2.3 Cooperation............................................................................................................. 6

3. Development of the ecolabel.............................................................................................. 6 3.1 Background.............................................................................................................. 6 3.2 New developments in the ecolabel in 2017............................................................. 7

4. The internationalisation goes on......................................................................................... 8 4.1 General.................................................................................................................... 8 4.2 Country by country.................................................................................................. 8 4.3 Larger, international companies............................................................................. 12

5. Funding for climate projects.............................................................................................. 12 5.1 Projects financed in 2017....................................................................................... 12 5.2 Communication about the projects........................................................................15 5.3 Preparing for the next climate projects..................................................................15

6. River work.......................................................................................................................... 16 6.1 Projects of the Environmental Fund....................................................................... 16 6.2 Future projects....................................................................................................... 18

7. Freshabit: communication, seminar and website...............................................................198. Communication................................................................................................................. 20

8.1 Website................................................................................................................... 20 8.2 Newsletter and social media................................................................................... 21 8.3 Leaflets.................................................................................................................... 22 8.4 Campaigns.............................................................................................................. 22 8.5 The ecolabel on products and buildings................................................................. 23

9. On the stage and in the media.......................................................................................... 24 9.1 Unique story, unique expertise............................................................................... 24 9.2 Conferences and seminars...................................................................................... 24 9.3 In the media............................................................................................................ 25 9.4 Awards.................................................................................................................... 27

10. Harmonisation through legislation & standardisation........................................................28 10.1 EU Renewable Energy Directive.............................................................................28 10.2 ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14076-2............................................................................... 28

11. Preparing the future.......................................................................................................... 29 11.1 Governance and the Secretariat.............................................................................29 11.2 Preparing new initiatives........................................................................................ 29

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12. Secretariat......................................................................................................................... 30 12.1 Staff........................................................................................................................ 30 12.2 Volunteers and trainees..........................................................................................31 12.3 Support from distance........................................................................................... 32 12.4 Excursions and team building................................................................................ 32

13. Budget and volumes.......................................................................................................... 33 13.1 Budget................................................................................................................... 33 13.2 Volumes.................................................................................................................. 34

14. Thanks............................................................................................................................... 3415. More information / Contact............................................................................................... 34

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1. Introduction: 100%

In 2017, our fifth year of activities, we continued to make progress on many fronts. We spent100% of our time, energy and money on positive actions, promoting a 100% renewable andsustainable world. At the time of reporting, we don't know yet if this also resulted in 100%growth, but it won't be far from it: we became highly active in China and Japan, we financedmore climate projects than ever before and all the time more consumers are using EKOenergy,from small households to large international companies.

2. 2017 in a nutshell: climate, biodiversity & cooperation

2.1 Promotion of a 100% renewable world

The EKOenergy ecolabel is a concrete tool to guide consumers towards 100% renewableenergy and to help them make a real difference.

• Our growing success in countries such as Finland, Spain and Italy has encouraged us toactively enter other markets. This year we worked a lot on China and Japan. Wecontinued to focus on Eastern European countries, Russia, Turkey and Latin-Americatoo. See chapter 4.

• We donated 189,618 euro to solar energy projects, tackling energy poverty in ninecountries. See chapter 5.1.

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• Consumers in Spain and Italy started to use our ecolabel on buildings and products toshow their support for a 100% renewable society. See chapter 8.5.

• RE100 companies such as VMware switched to EKOenergy. This enabled us to link ourown campaigns and activities to RE100's activities on behalf of a 100% renewableeconomy. Two more RE100 companies started a cooperation with EKOenergy, and weexpect that they will communicate about it in the (near) future. See chapter 4.3.

• 3 municipalities switched to EKOenergy, two in Finland and one in Germany. All ofthese have chosen EKOenergy because they want to take another step towards a 100%renewable and sustainable world.

• We actively communicate about success stories in the transition to a 100% renewableeconomy, particularly via social media. See chapter 8.

2.2 Protecting biodiversity

Through our daily work and by promoting ecolabelled energy, we also promote natureconservation.

• Through our Environmental Fund, we donated 77,000 euro to river restoration projects.This year's projects took all place in Finland, where most of the EKOenergy certifiedhydropower is being sold. See chapter 6.

• Virpi Sahi started working as EKOenergy's Environmental Director. For the first time,one of our staff members can focus full time on biodiversity. Through the EVS program,we were able to host fish biologist Karlina Ozolina full time. See chapter 12.

• We are in daily contact with sellers and consumers to explain why sustainability criteriaand renewable energy matter.

• We made a website about the ecological impact of hydropower (in Finnish, as a part ofthe Freshabit Life project). See chapter 7.

• We organised a well-attended and well-appreciated seminar about fish passages. Seechapter 6.2.

• We regularly communicate about the impact of climate change on biodiversity, mainlyon social media. See chapter 8.

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2.3 Cooperation

Along with the fast growth of renewable energy production, cooperation is definitely one ofthe prerequisites for successfully combatting climate change. This is something we have trulyunderstood : cooperation is a key element of EKOenergy's approach. We actively join effortswith others, all over the world. Successful cooperations in 2017 were with:

• The Finnish branch of Protect Our Winters and with Save Pond Hockey. See chapter 8.4.• EKOenergy sellers, developing and implementing joint marketing strategies. See

chapter 4.• The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, hosting and sponsoring the

EKOenergy secretariat in all possible ways.• The Agency in charge of the Erasmus+ program, as well as with sending organisations

in 9 countries. This allowed us to host 13 EVS volunteers in 2017. See chapter 12.1.• The IREC Secretariat to bring renewable electricity markets to new areas. See in

particular chapter 4.• With CAN (Climate Action Network) and other environmental organisations we strove

for a more ambitious EU Renewable Energy Directive.We also participated in an exchange program with the Chinese organisation "ChongqingRenewable Energy Society" and we hosted a Japanese volunteer in cooperation with IIP-Tokyo(International Internships Programs). See chapter 4.

We continue to reach out to others. Many more organisations and companies are planningactivities or projects in which we would be eager to help and to bring in our experience: theRE100, national and international labelling organisations, IRENA, CEM's Sourcing ofRenewable Energy campaign...

3. Development of the ecolabel

3.1 Background

The EKOenergy ecolabel is not a 'final product' and it will never be. It is getting better andstronger all the time.

• We integrate experiences and new knowledge into our criteria.• We need to respond to the rapid developments in the renewable energy sector all the

time. Besides the technological developments, there are also a lot of changes withregard to opportunities for consumers to participate in the energy transition, e.g. owninstallations, internationalisation of energy tracking, growing interest of consumers in

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Power Purchase Agreements.• Consumer demand for EKOenergy is growing all the time, and as a result we are

constantly gaining resources to improve the ecolabel and have all the time more weightin our contacts with the energy producers and sellers.

3.2 New developments in the ecolabel in 2017

Hereafter some of the aspects we have been working on in 2017:

• Our ecolabel for renewable gas was launchedin March 2017. EKOenergy-certified gas ismade from sustainable types of bioenergy orthrough the gasification of renewableelectricity. The label focuses on sustainability,correct consumer information and on propertracking systems. Suppliers of EKOenergycertified gas pay at least 0,10 €/MWh intoEKOenergy’s climate fund. That money is usedto finance renewable energy projects all overthe world. We haven’t yet certified any sales ofgas in 2017, but took note of a lot of interestin many countries.

• We developed criteria for the use of the ecolabel by consumers who produce their ownenergy. These criteria work for off-grid as well as on-grid production.See: http://www.ekoenergy.org/ecolabel/new-ekoenergy-from-own-installations/

• We started the review of our criteria for hydropower. The process started with a seriesof interviews with experts from various countries. Based on their comments andsuggestions, and based on our experiences over the past 5 years, we will present a firstproposal for the new criteria in January 2018.

• We started the development of an ecolabel for renewable heat.• We are working on the legal protection of our logo in all countries where we are getting

active. This year we could only finish the process in India. In many more countries theprocess is ongoing.

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4. The internationalisation goes on

4.1 General

In the past few years we have launched the ecolabel in many countries. We know that there isno magic formula to get a foot on the ground in a new market., but in all countries whereEKOenergy is present it is persistence that brought us there.

We wouldn't be able to be persistent without the non-stop help of volunteers from manydifferent countries. Many come to our office to participate in long term EVS projects (EuropeanVoluntary Service, of the EU Erasmus+ program). Apart from them, we also regularly hostErasmus-trainees.

These volunteers and trainees help us, among other things, to:• Communicate in over 10 languages• Reach out to stakeholders in their own countries• Look for opportunities in new areas, particularly in areas where European languages are

spoken.• Set up campaigns• Develop communication and marketing materials

4.2 Country by country

A lot of things happened in many countries. Hereafter we give a short overview of some of the things that happened:

China• We participated in the EU-China NGO Twinning Exchange Program. As a part of the

project, we hosted Mr. Dingping Ma from our partner institution Chongqing RenewableEnergy Society at our secretariat in Helsinki (25 May - 28 July). Also, Merve Güngörfrom the EKOenergy Secretariat got the opportunity to spend 2 months in China, in 7different cities (2 September - 30 October). She met tens of stakeholders, includingenvironmental NGOs, energy administration, sellers and traders, large consumers. Wefocused in particular on understanding the relation between the recently launchedChinese Green Certificate system and voluntary tracking systems such as IREC.

• We created several leaflets in Mandarin Chinese, translated a summary of GHG ProtocolScope 2 Guide, and are constantly translating content on our website.

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Finland• EKOenergy's 'home' is Finland. This where it started and this is where EKOenergy is

best known. Two more Finnish electricity suppliers started selling EKOenergy. 11 Finnishelectricity sellers are now selling EKOenergy.

• We published a guide about 'How to buy EKOenergy in Finland' and a guide about'EKOenergy and public procurement’. Several of the Licensees organised specialcampaigns to promote their EKOenergy-certified product.

• The cities of Lappeenranta and Imatra switched to EKOenergy.

France• Two large consumers started using EKOenergy; one of them is Yves Rocher. One more

electricity seller started selling EKOenergy.• On the International Day for Biological Diversity, we organised an event about

"EKOenergy and biodiversity" at the French Embassy. On 28 September, weparticipated in the event "Finland in Normandy", in Rouen (organized by CCINormandie).

• We actively reached out to French hotels and to French chocolate factories (as part ofour campaigns 'EKOenergy for the hospitality sector' and "EKOenergy for chocolatefactories”.

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Germany• We met tens of German suppliers at the E-world conference in Essen (6- 9 February). 2

more German sellers signed the Licence Agreement.• The city of Bielefeld switched to EKOenergy.• The German Council for Sustainable Development awarded us the title "Projekt

Nachhaltigkeit 2017" (Taten für morgen), RADIO F.R.E.I. Erfurt interviewed formervolunteers Charlotte Bodenmüler and Theresa Knechtel.

• We actively reached out to German hotels and to German chocolate factories (as partof our campaigns 'EKOenergy for the hospitality sector' and "EKOenergy for chocolatefactories"). Our largest German consumer extended their EKOenergy contract for twomore years. We are looking forward to communicating about them in the coming yearsand to convincing other big German companies to follow their good example.

Italy• Our Italian licensee ForGreen is amongst the most active promotors of EKOenergy.

They developed their own 'EKOenergy for breweries' campaign and convinced tens of(small) companies to switch to EKOenergy and to communicate about it.

• We have joined our EVS project with Legambiente and see this as a step towards acloser cooperation with Italian environmental organisations.

Japan• From March to September we hosted a Japanese Volunteer: Chie Takahashi. She

actively contacted Japanese stakeholders. We translated several of our texts into Japanese.

Netherlands• We updated the Dutch translation of our website and promoted our new ecolabel for

biogas towards Dutch gas sellers.

Russia• We are still working hard to bring EKOenergy to Russia. Unfortunately our contacts at

the Russian energy market regulator, the Market Council, left and were replaced by newcontract persons. As a result we had to do part of the earlier work over again. It is nowless sure that the Russian administration will introduce a tracking system in the sense ofScope 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Therefore we are also looking for otheroptions. We are reaching out to energy companies as well as to consumers to spreadinformation and map interest.

• The Russian CSR magazine 'Sustainable Business' published 2 articles on EKOenergy.

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Spain• Licensed seller Gesternova promoted EKOenergy very enthusiastically. They actively use

our name on social media and renewed their webpage about EKOenergy. Several oftheir electricity customers started using the logo in their own communication.

• We also have a first larger consumer in Spain and we are looking forward tocommunicating about them and with them in 2018.

Turkey• We are keeping in contact with various stakeholders such as consultants, sellers and

traders, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. We produce and translate contentregularly, such as Climate Fund stories, the gas ecolabel leaflet, website articles, etc.

• We are in contact with Turkish environmental NGOs as well as with potential users ofthe label.

• Bloomberg Turkey published an article mentioning the Finnish 'Save our Winters'campaign of Protect Our Winters in Cooperation with EKOenergy. See also chapter 7.4.

• We selected more EKOenergy eligible wind farms from various parts of Turkey.

Other• We also have licensed sellers in many other countries, such as the Czech Republic,

Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Taiwan and the United States.• We are in regular contact with most of these licensees. Mid-June, Jules Chang from Mt

Stonegate, our Taiwanese licensee, visited us in Helsinki.• We have also actively reached out to stakeholders in many other areas such as Latin

America, Canada, Australia and Northern Africa.• In 2017, we certified energy contracts in the Americas and in Africa for the first time.

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4.3 Larger, international companies

One of the unique characteristics of EKOenergy is that we work internationally, and ourSecretariat consists of persons who are following the evolution of the renewable energy marketand the implementation of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance in many countriesand in many languages.

As a result, a growing number of large international companies reach out to us, in particularmembers of the RE100 coalition. We are happy that 3 of them have even switched toEKOenergy in at least some of the countries where they are active. One of them hascommunicated publicly about it: VMware. Thanks!

In these processes, we work closely together with several international organisations andmarket players, e.g. with RECS International, with Ecohz and with South Pole.

5. Funding for climate projects

5.1 Projects financed in 2017

For each sold MWh of EKOenergy, a minimum of € 0.10 (ten eurocents) go to EKOenergy'sClimate Fund. That money is used to finance climate projects that would not have happenedwithout the contributions.

In 2017 we donated in total € 189,618 to climate projects in 9 countries.• We donated € 185,618 in March 2017 to the nine best ranked proposals of those that

we got as a result of our Call for Projects in 2016. For two of the nine projects, we worked together with the Finnish Siemenpuu organisation, who contributed another € 32,000 (see the list with details hereafter).

• We donated another € 4000 at the end of the year - see the project "Smart energy kiosks for Togo"

Energy cafe in Tajikistan• We donated € 15,000 to the Norwegian organisation Naturvernforbundet for a project

in Tajikistan. • In cooperation with a local community organisation they have set up a solar powered

energy café in the remote village Nisur.

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Solar for health centers in Guinée• € 15,618 went to the French organisation Santé Sud, for a project in Guinea. • With this money, Santé Sud has installed solar panels at five health centers.

Home lighting systems for villages in India• € 17,000 went to a project of the Gram Vikas, India. Gram Vikas has used the money to

install home lighting systems. • Priority was given to remote communities that are not yet connected to the main

electricity grid, in the remote parts of the Kalahandi district of Odisha, India. 120 households have benefitted directly from the project.

Smart energy kiosks for Togo• In the spring, we donated € 20,000 to the Belgian organisation Solar without Borders

(Solar zonder grenzen) for the installation of 6 smart solar kiosks and mini grids in Togo.• In December we donated another € 4000 euro to the same project, to finance 2 solar

kiosks in the Togolese village Wuteble (€ 2000 euro of this sum is a Christmas gift ofEcohz, one of our licensees)

Solar for schools in Madagascar• € 25,000 went to a project of the Swiss Organisation CEAS in Madagascar. With the

money, they install 3 Solar – powered kiosks at schools in rural villages of Madagascar.• Two installations are ready. One more will be installed in early 2018.

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Solar energy for Zululand, South Africa• EKOenergy and Siemenpuu Foundation donated € 35,000 to a project of the Africa

Conservation Trust, South Africa (EKOenergy's share in the donation was € 18,000). • Their Zululand Community Solar Project "aims to provide solar lighting systems to

families living in the Kwadlakuse and Esikhuthwaneni communities” – two deeply ruralvillages in Northern KwaZulu – Natal. This region forms part of the Zululand DistrictMunicipality, one of the poorest districts in South Africa largely due to its history as amarginalised homeland".

Solar for schools in Palestine• A project of the Palestinian organisation Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem got €

30,000. Siemenpuu and EKOenergy each paid half of that amount. • The money has been used to install solar installations for poor households and

community buildings in Bethlehem.

Solar pumps for women in Senegal• € 20,000 went to Fondem (Fondation Énergies pour le Monde). • With this money, they have installed 2 solar pumps in Ouonck, a village in South

Senegal, where agriculture is a main economic activity.

Solar energy for North-Darfur, Sudan• We donated € 45.000 to a project of the British organisation Practical Action, in the

village of Barbujat, El Fashir, within the North Darfur state of Sudan. • 100 households have been given solar lantern sets, which replace the use of kerosene

and wood for indoor lighting. In the local market place, 20 solar lanterns will beinstalled. Sellers, in particular many women, will benefit from increased security.

• A solar powered grain mill will replace current unreliable diesel operated mills thatfrequently break down and are costly to run. This will reduce the need of women toqueue around the few functional mills for several hours a day.

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5.2 Communication about the projects

The beneficiaries of our Climate Fund communicateabout the donation and about the realised projects viasocial media and on their website.

Communication by EKOenergy• In April, we published a small booklet about the

Climate Fund projects of 2016.• We are writing short articles about each of the

financed projects. These articles are published inthe new series "Climate Stories". We published 5of these "Climate Stories" in 2017. The other willbe published in the first months of 2018.

• All of these publications can be downloaded fromour website:http://www.ekoenergy.org/our-results/climate-fund/

5.3 Preparing for the next climate projects

In recent years, we have spent a lot of time and energy on the selection of Climate projects. Inreaction to our 2016 call for projects, we got more than 300 project proposals. In 2017 weagreed to 'outsource' a part of the selection process to the experienced Finnish SiemenpuuFoundation (www.siemenpuu.org). The Siemenpuu Foundation has long term experience withselecting and supervising developing aid projects.

In 2018 we will donate at least 60,000 euro (possibly more) to renewable energy projects to beselected by Siemenpuu. In return, Siemenpuu will donate another 60.000 euro from othersources to the same projects. The first joint call for projects is now open. We are looking forsmall scale renewable electricity projects aiming at alleviation of energy poverty and socialinequality in Mali, Myanmar and Nepal.

Together with Siemenpuu, we also submitted a project proposal to the Nordic Climate Fundfor an ambitious solar energy project in Malawi. In December we invited the 12 previousbeneficaries of our Climate Fund to submit new project ideas by 28 February 2018.

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6. River work

6.1 Projects of the Environmental Fund

For each MWh of EKOenergy hydropower sold, a contribution of minimum € 0.10 (teneurocents) is paid into the EKOenergy Environmental Fund. The money of EKOenergy'sEnvironmental Fund is used to finance the implementation of river restoration projects.

• In 2017 we selected four new projects, totalling € 77,000. The selection was made byan expert board and approved by EKOenergy's board.

• All four projects, described more closely below, are based in Finland. This is wheremost of the sales of EKOenergy certified hydropower are made.

• Additionally, at the end of 2016 we donated € 30,000 to study options for a damremoval in Virtaankoski rapid, Finland. That project is ongoing and the first report willbe submitted in January 2018.

Free waterways in the Kokemäenjoki catchment area (Finland)• The Kokemäenjoki catchment area is located in South-West Finland, mainly in the

Pirkanmaa county. The target areas of the project are selected on the basis of earlierdistribution and genetic studies of the brown trout populations in the catchment area.The ultimate goal of the project is to re-establish river connectivity to enable theexpansion of the original, genetically unique trout populations. The information on theexisting sub-populations of brown trout is used to further develop other measures forthe benefit of the fish.

• The 2-year project includes concrete river restoration and fish migration study in thiscatchment area, in the Pirkanmaa county. The restoration includes eliminating migrationobstacles and restoring spawning areas. At the same time a study of the migration ofnaturally reproducing trout populations is carried out.

• Responsible organization: The Water Protection Association of the River Kokemäenjoki(KVVY)

• Funding granted: 50 000 euro, to be used in 2017-2018 for specific river restorationmeasures and migration studies.

Freshwater pearl mussel project in the river Mustionjoki (Finland)• The Freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is a critically endangered

species. The lifecycle of the mussel is peculiar. In the early stage of its lifecycle thelarvae/juvenile freshwater pearl mussel lives in the gills of salmonid fish (salmon ortrout), from which it drops to the river bottom to start the long, up to 100-year life as anadult mussel.

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• In Finland, River Mustionjoki supports the southernmost population of freshwater pearlmussels that are presently on the edge of extinction. The number of individual musselsin this population has dropped dramatically between 2010-2016 (from 3038 to 1353).The remaining individuals are in weak condition and do not produce glokidium larvae.Thus, if no extra measures are carried out, the population will disappear while waitingfor the results of habitat restoration measures in situ.

• In Norway there is evidence of successful removal of individual mussels from threatenedpopulations to be reared at a hatchery where they are fed and cared for, until they startto produce glokidium larvae again, typically within 1-2 years. Salmonid fish are thenexposed to the larvae and the developing juvenile mussels are then planted back to thehome river to areas that have suitable conditions and best possible habitats.

• Responsible organization: University of Jyväskylä, the laboratory of bio- andenvironmental sciences

• Money granted from: 9 000 euro, to organise the care for freshwater pearl mussels inKonnevesi Hatchery.

Study on fish passages (Finland)• A remarkable challenge of fish passage planning is the task of creating a sufficient

attraction flow that would show the animals the direction to the fish passage. Inhydropower plants operations water is a resource to be used for electricity productionand thus to be used effectively. On the other hand, in many plant operations bypassflow – the excess water that cannot be used in turbines to generate electricity – occursregularly during the fish migration time in spring and autumn. In current fish passageinstallations (in Finland and internationally) the bypass flow is not utilised for the benefitof the fish. The goal of the project is to create a new fish passage type that would utilisethis opportunity, especially with regards to upstream migration but to some extend alsodownstream migration.

• Responsible organization: Kala- ja vesitutkimus Oy• Money granted: 6 000 euro to be used in 2017 to conduct a preliminary survey on the

feasibility, applications and cost of various types of dam structures.

Merikarvianjoki project (Finland)• River Merikarvianjoki is located in the Satakunta county. The brown trout population of

the river suffers from a lack of reproduction areas. The restoration project will focus onthe replacement of unsuitable sharp-shaped bottom stones with natural-like gravel androck material. It is possible that salmon and whitefish populations will also benefit fromthis restoration.

• Responsible organization: Merikarvia municipality• Money granted: 3 700 euro to be used in 2017 for organising volunteer work to restore

river habitats in Puukoski & Lankoski river rapids.

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6.2 Future projects

We started with the preparation of the projects for 2018. As the sales of EKOenergy certifiedhydropower are now increasing in other countries too, we launched a call for projects fromGermany, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Proposals have to be submitted by 15 January 2018.

We are also planning the rebranding of the Environmental Fund. The name will change to RiverRestoration Fund and we will further invest in communication about it. Furthermore we willwork on attracting more money into the fund. See also chapter 7.

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7. Freshabit: communication, seminar and website

EKOenergy works for Finnish freshwater habitats by participating the 2016-2022 FRESHABITLIFE IP project. Coordinated by Metsähallitus (Forest and Park Service of Finland) and withabout 30 other partners, FRESHABIT is the largest ever EU-funded project for natureconservation in Finland. The project improves the ecological condition of lakes, rivers andstreams by various methods that range from hands-on river restoration to environmentaleducation and research.

EKOenergy’s role in FRESHABIT is to work towards more nature-friendly hydropower. Ouractions in the LIFE IP -projects include encouraging climate-friendly electricity andcommunication about it, including:

• Criteria review for EKO-energy-labelled hydropower, using Finland as a case countrybut keeping in mind the expanding internationalisation of EKOenergy.

• Awareness raising of citizens and consumers about the impacts on nature ofhydroelectricity and the potential solutions.

• Further development of mechanisms for ecological compensation via EKOenergy,especially the rebranding of the Environmental Fund.

Achievements during the year 2017• A background study of the present state of the EKOenergy hydropower criteria was

completed, including analyses of the present criteria of EKOenergy and other existingecolabelling systems for hydropower, interviews with national and internationalspecialists in river ecology (including the specialists of beneficiaries) and thehydropower sector (i.e. producer side) and reporting the results.

• A Fish Passages Seminar was held on 6 October 2017. The seminar gathered a largenumber of Finnish specialists and actors who work in fisheries, conservation and energysectors to learn and network. The topics of the seminar covered the following items:the history of hydropower, migratory fish, fish passages types, do the fish passagesfunction, what else is needed to re-esteblish migratory fish and why the last remainingfree-flowing rivers must be protected. The seminar was live streamed and the videosare available on the Youtube channel of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation(Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto).

• The website “Vesivoiman luonto” (Nature of Hydropower) was intensively preparedduring the year 2017 and will be launched in January 2018 (in Finnish). It is an easy-to-understand and illustrative online material for laymen on the impacts on nature ofhydroelectric power and their potential solutions. The work included contents planning,production of texts and illustrations and photo-editing.

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• The nature protection considerations of hydroelectric power were communicated tolarge consumers of electricity throughout the year 2017. The communication includedpreparing communication materials and negotiating with interest groups.

Further information and the deliverables of EKOenergy’s contribution to FRESHABIT LIFE IPproject are available in (in Finnish) at http://www.ekoenergy.org/fi/our-results/freshabit/

8. Communication

8.1 Website

• We changed the design of our homepage to make it better structured and more user friendly.

• We introduced sliders and the news items are more visible. • We also introduced the category 'Stories of consumers'.

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8.2 Newsletter and social media

Newsletter• In 2017, we published 17 newsletters, each of them containing 5-8 items. All

newsletters can be found at our website: http://www.ekoenergy.org/news/newsletter-archive/.

• We also wrote the first German version of the Newsletter.

Facebook• We post about 5 updates per week on our English Facebook page www.facebook.

com/EKOenergyInternational and about 5 updates per week on our Finnish Facebookpage.

• About 1/3 of the posts are about our own activities and achievements. About 1/3 of theposts are about renewable energy and the transition towards a 100% renewableeconomy. Climate change and its consequences are also often focussed on.

• The International Facebook page has 3980 "likes". The Finnish EKOenergia facebookpage, which is older and targets a Finnish audience has 5900 "likes".

Twitter• We send 2 to 5 tweets per day. We almost exclusively tweet in English.• Our twitter account @EKOenergy_ has 2970 followers, including some big organisations

and think tanks (up from 2299 followers last year). • Among other sellers, Gesternova, one of our Spanish licensees actively uses Twitter

(and EKOenergy's name) in its marketing.

LinkedIn• About once to twice per week, we post updates on EKOenergy's LinkedIn account:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/ekoenergy---ekoenergia. • Our organisation's page has 490 followers.

Instagram• We irregularly post pictures on our account: https://www.instagram.com/ ekoenergy/.

Most of these are our own and they give a nice overview of the diverse activities at theEKOenergy Secretariat, as well as of EKOenergy's results.

• We have 3024 followers.

Xing• About once a week, we post an update on Xing, the German social network. We use

Xing groups to spread our messages.

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8.3 Leaflets

• We developed new leaflets in many languages and for different target audiences.• We also created a lot of visuals: in particular for our campaigns (see chaper 7.4), but

also visuals for Facebook and other social media.

8.4 Campaigns

In 2017 we organised several campaigns, targeting specific sectors.

For each campaign we wrote texts, designed visuals and made new presentations. All materialshave been translated into several languages.

Hospitality campaign• The goal of the campaign was to inform green certifications for hotels such as Green

Key about EKOenergy, as well as to convince the most environmentally friendlyaccommodation facilities in each country to set an example and to switch toEKOenergy,

• We particularly focussed on hotels in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russiaand Spain.

Protect Our Winters and Save Pond Hockey• Protect Our Winters is an international network of professional winter sport athletes.

Their aim is to mobilise the winter sport community to lead the charge towards positiveclimate action. In November 2016, the Finnish branch of Protect Our Winters, togetherwith EKOenergy, launched a campaign to convince ski resorts and winter sport eventsto switch to EKOenergy-certified electricity. Winter Olympian Enni Rukajärvi was thefigurehead of the campaign. The campaign lasted until March 2017. See also thecampaign website and the campaign video at http://www.pelastetaantalvet.fi/

• Protect our Winters had a stand at Lahti World Ski Championships. Many of EKOenergySecretariat went to help for one or more days.

• Related to this campaign, we also participated in this year's "Save Pond Hockey"campaign" (www.savepondhockey.org), set up by a group of Finnish pond hockey fans.Pond hockey is a kind of ice hockey played on frozen lakes, and as Finnish winters arebecoming milder, the future of pond hockey is uncertain. EKOenergy participated in theSave Pond Hockey Tournament on 21 January in Mikkeli and on 11 February in Helsinki.

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EKOenergy for Chocolate factoriesAt the international Cocoa and Chocolate day, i.e. on 1st October, we launched a 'Chocolatecampaign’.

• We designed a leaflet and a presentation, and translated these into 6 languages.• We opened the campaign with special posts on our social media (Facebook, Instagram

and Twitter).• We contacted potential consumers (chocolate factories and chocolate shops) via email.

We focused on companies in 6 European countries where our licensed sellers are themost active.

• We encouraged our licensees to copy elements of the campaign and to reach out toexisting or new consumers active in the food sector.

8.5 The ecolabel on products and buildings

One of our ambitions is to make it easier for consumers to proudly communicate about theirgreen electricity purchase. Everybody can help to spread the message that a 100% renewablefuture is possible. "Let’s switch to EKOenergy, and show to others that we are doing it".

In the past year, it has become clear that consumers are indeed interested in using our logo,e.g. on their own products, or on their buildings. Things are developing particularly well inFinland and Spain.

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Finland• The city of Lappeenranta switched to EKOenergy and has put information boards near

the town hall.• Several corporate consumers, such as Finlayson, use the EKOenergy label on their shop

door.• Several sellers send stickers to their EKOenergy consumers.

Spain• Ecorganic Supermarket, a school, a bakery chain and a brewery all switched to

EKOenergy and started using our logo in their own communications. e.g. on theirbuildings.

We are now using these examples to convince sellers in other countries to reach out to theirEKOenergy consumers and to help them to develop communication material.

9. On the stage and in the media

9.1 Unique story, unique expertise

As becomes apparent throughout this annual report, EKOenergy's story is in many waysunique: we created a new international ecolabel 'out of nothing', we are able to show veryconcrete results, we are very open and transparent and volunteers play a crucial role in ourdevelopment.

We have unique expertise too. EKOenergy has become an expert on the marketing of greenenergy. We have frequent contacts with stakeholders in 40 different countries. We are also oneof the few organisations concentrating so intensively on the link between renewable energydevelopments and the impact on biodiversity.

A nice consequence of this uniqueness is that we are invited to conferences, we get into themedia and we are also are getting awards!

9.2 Conferences and seminars

During 2017, we spoke at many events. Some of these are listed below:• EKOenergy attended the RECS Market Meeting, from 7 to 9 March in Amsterdam, the

Netherlands. Steven Vanholme moderated a pre-conference workshop about electricity

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tracking.• Virpi Sahi and Karlina Ozolina presented EKOenergy's work at the 5th Sustainable

Hydropower Development Conference, on 4 and 5 April in Prague, Czech Republic.• Steven Vanholme talked about Scope 2 Accounting (Greenhouse Gas Protocol) at the

'Spring meetings' of CDP in Helsinki, Finland (4th of April) and Stockholm (6th of April)• Petter Nissinen talked about energy efficiency, solar energy and EKOenergy at

Omakotimessut, on the 9 April in Helsinki.• Steven Vanholme talked about green energy in general and EKOenergy in particular at

the CSR event of Finnish breweries, on 17 May in Helsinki, Finland.• Merve Güngör made a presentation with the title "Private action in the transition to

100% renewable energy. Consumers and NGOs: together we’re unstoppable" at theC20-meeting in June, Hamburg, Germany.

• Olga Usova and Mouna Tonazzini presented EKOenergy at a seminar for SustainableTourism over one week in Pärnu (Estonia), in June. This seminar was organised by theorganisation GIFT (Green Ideas For Tourism) and the participation of SEI (StockholmEnvironmental Institute). The main topics of the discussions were ways to make thetourism sector greener.

• Steven Vanholme and Karlina Ozolina talked at the Alumni event of the US Embassy inHelsinki on 24 July.

• Merve Güngör made a presentation at "Renewable energy usage innovation trainingseminar", organised by Mr. Dingping Ma in Chongqing, China. The topic was "Theapplication of environmental ecolabels".

• Anna Kokareva gave a presentation on "Green electricity and environmentalprotection" at the "International Forum - Open dialogue: Science, Business andEducation as drivers of the global environmental security", on 19 September in Helsinki.

• Merve Güngör presented EKOenergy's China project and activities in EU-ChinaTwinning Program participants' workshop in September 2017, in Sanya, China.

• Merve Güngör made a speech at TEDxJNJ Suzhou about “How cross culturalcommunication can help the environment”, on 28 Octobor, in Suzhou, China.

• Merve Güngör introduced EKOenergy's European and international experience toyoung people during an hour-long Online Youth Exchange (OYE) webinar, organised byCYCAN.

• Laura Marie Kothe gave a presentation about EKOenergy and the European VoluntaryService for students of the German School in Helsinki, on 7 December.

• Anna Kokareva presented EKOenergy and the EVS programme to undergraduatestudents of Tyumen State University, on 27 December in Tyumen, Russia.

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9.3 In the media

• The Magazine GineersNow, an inter-national online magazine for youngengineers, featured EKOenergy in itsedition about "Best Renewable GreenStories of 2017": "The transition to 100%

renewable is unstoppable. But the speed

of the transition is still too slow to avoid

dramatic climate change. To realize a fast

shift, we need the involvement of all, and

this will only work if it is easy, affordable

and fun. These are the elements

EKOenergy concentrates on, and this is

how they contribute towards the global

energy revolution.". The online version

can be read at

https://gineersnow.com/magazines/

renewables-magazines/best-renewable-

green-stories-2017

• Bloomberg Businessweek Turkey (26 March - 1 April issue) published an articlementioning the Save our Winters Campaign "Kış Mevsimlerinin Karlılığı SürdürülebilirMi?"

• In March, the online Russian Sustainable Business magazine published two articlesabout EKOenergy. One about the sourcing of renewable energy in Europe and oneabout our 'EKOenergy for Breweries' campaign. ("Эколейблы для “зелёного”электричества: что это и как они работают?" and "Экологичность в пивовареннойиндустрии: возобновляемая энергия и пивоварение")

• In March, the Spanish magazine Solar News published an article about EKOenergy,written by Marta Garcia from our Spanish member Ecoserveis(http://www.ekoenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Solarnews_EKOenergia.jpg)

• The Turkish online magazine EKOIQ published 2 articles about EKOenergy:◦ January - February issue: "Biz de 'Kışları Koruyalım', about the Protect Our Winters

campaign. ◦ May - June issue: "Bilinçli ve Kararlı Tüketicinin Eko-Etiketi", about ecolabels for

energy.• 'Media Planet', Finland, published an text by Petter Nissinen in February 2017, both in

a paper version and online.

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9.4. Awards

The German Council for Sustainable Development granted us the quality label “SustainabilityProject 2017”. This is a renowned distinction for projects contributing towards the SustainableDevelopment Goals. These goals include “affordable and clean energy” and “climate action”.

The award ceremony took place in in Erfurt on 23 March and was attended by our (previous)German volunteers Theresa Knechtel and Charlotte Bodenmüller.

(picture: Sylvia Mierzynska)

In 2016, we were one of the 100 climate projects, showcased by the French ministry of Environment, Energy and Sea as a part of the '100 Projects for the Climate' initiative. The award ceremony took place on 22 May 2017 at the French Embassy in Helsinki andwas attended by the whole EKOenergy Secretariat and guests.

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10. Harmonisation through legislation & standardisation

10.1 EU Renewable Energy Directive

We spent a lot of time and energy on improving the wording of article 19 of the proposal ofthe Renewable Energy Directive (on Guarantees of Origin for electricity, gas and heat). Wepublished several background papers and reached out to decision makers.

We cooperated with CAN Europe on all other issues of the Renewable Energy Directive, inparticular on articles in regard to the carbon emission and renewable energy targets for 2030.

10.2 ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14076-2

In the second half of 2017, two important ISO standards were under review and in publicconsultation: ISO 14064-1 on the carbon footprint of companies and ISO 14067 on the carbonfootprint for products.

EKOenergy submitted comments. In particular for ISO 14064, we submitted new textproposals, to make sure that the text would endorse the use of the so-called 'market basedmethod' for the calculation of Scope 2 emissions (Scope 2 emissions = emissions related to theconsumption of electricity from the grid, heat and cooling).

Renowned standards such as Greenhouse Gas Protocol and organisations such as CDPpromote the use of the market based method. We think this is the right approach. In the fightagainst climate change, private actors such as companies play an important role. It is importantthat energy consumers are encouraged to invest in renewable energy (see e.g. http://resource-event.eu/, http://rebuyers.org/), it is also important that users of green energy get theopportunity to communicate about it (e.g. http://there100.org/) and it is important thatconsumer can reflect this consumption of green energy in the calculation of the carbonfootprint of their organisation and of their products.

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11. Preparing the future

11.1 Governance and the Secretariat

EKOenergy's structure and decision process has proven to be flexible and very helpful duringour start-up. It helped us to involve many and to grow quickly. But as we grow, we will need torethink parts of our governance structure. How many more members can we welcome? Whichtopics do we want to submit to the vote of all members, and which not? How should we meetand how often? There is no need to hurry, but these are things that we are re-considering andwe will continue to work on it in the coming year.

Together with the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, we are setting up a new legalentity to host EKOenergy and many other businesss-oriented activities of the FinnishAssociation for Nature Conservation. It will be a (not-for-profit) foundation, strongly embeddedin the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. For the outer world not much will change,but it will give us a better legal framework to develop the international activities which we arealready working on.

The number of EKOenergy employees is growing. At the end of 2017, we are 4 employees,one of these through the LIFE-Freshabit project. Most of the EKOenergy's tasks from Freshabitend in 2018, but we are determined to find the necessary recourses to continue to workstructurally on river restoration and hydropower is one of the ambitions.

We got a strategic EVS grant (European Voluntary Service, Erasmus+), meaning that wesecured financing for 9 EVS volunteers spread over 2018 and 2019.

11.2 Preparing new initiatives

In 2018 we will continue to work on all issues we have been working on in the past years, andevery time we will try to do better. We will launch new campaigns in more countries andlanguages, we will reach out to more stakeholders, we are designing new and more attractivematerials, and much more.

But we are also preparing new initiatives, in particular the following. Electro-mobility

• We joined the 'Alliance of free choice', focussing on roaming possibilities for sharingelectric vehicles. We are also in contact with several operators of charging points.

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Biomass• We are preparing the review of our biomass criteria. In the same process, we will also

develop criteria for renewable heat. The timing is good. Many are disappointed by the weak safeguards for the sustainability of bioenergy under the new EU Renewable Energy Directive. A voluntary ecolabel as EKOenergy may be part of a workable response.

12. Secretariat

12.1 Staff

Steven Vanholme (Program Manager), Virpi Sahi (Environmental Director) and Petter Nissinen(Marketing Director). On 1.11.2017 Merve Güngör joined our team as Liaison Coordinator forTurkey and East Asia

12.2 Volunteers and trainees

EVS VolunteersIn 2017 the EKOenergy secretariat hosted the following EVS volunteers (European VoluntaryService):

• Vincenzo Bordino (IT), July 2016 - June 2017, project 'Leadership with EKOenergy -Southern Europe', 2016-1-FI01-KA105-022504

• Catrin Buchfink (DE), August 2016 - July 2017, project 'Leadership with EKOenergy -Germany' 2016-1-FI01-KA105-022404

• Merve Güngör (TR), September 2016 - August 2017, project 'EKOenergy for Turkey',2015-3-FI01-KA105-022181

• Olga Usova, (RU), September 2016 - August 2017, project "EKOenergy forNeighbours", 2016-2-FI01-KA105-022784

• Monica Aniszewska (PL), October 2016 - May 2017, project 'Break free - Switch torenewable energy', 2016-2-FI01-KA105-022782

• Christiane Lösel (DE), October 2016 - August 2017, project 'Leadership with EKOenergy- Germany' 2016-1-FI01-KA105-022404

• Elyem Chej (ES), October 2016 - September 2017, project 'Leadership with EKOenergy- Southern Europe', 2016-1-FI01-KA105-022504

• Karlina Ozolina (UK and LV), 8 February 2017 - January 2018, project 'Spread the word',2016-3-FI01-KA105-034205.

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• Mounia Tonazzini (FR), 25 March 2016 - March 2018, project 'Break free - Switch torenewable energy', 2016-2-FI01-KA105-022782

• Maria Barreiro (ES), May 2017 - December 2017, project 'Spread the word', 2016-3-FI01-KA105-034205.

• Laura Kothe (DE), started in August 2017, project 'We are going local,' 2017-1-FI01-KA105-034370

• Nicolò Sancassiani (IT), started in September 2017, project 'We are going local,' 2017-1-FI01-KA105-034370

• Anna Kokareva (RU), started in September 2017, project 'Pushing the transition fromfossil to renewable, 2017-1-FI01-KA105-034297

Together 85,5 months of volunteering for EKOenergy in 2017.

For more information on the EVS (European Voluntary Service) program, seehttp://ec.europa.eu/youth/programme/mobility/youth_people_en.htm.

Other volunteers• Chie Takahashi, (JP), April 2017 - October 2017

Trainees• Lauri Heikkinen (FI), trainee, työkokeilu, October 2016 - April 2017• Mervi Ukkonen (FI), trainee, työkokeilu, December 2016 - February 2017• Liselotte Gijzemijter (NL), trainee, February 2017 - July 2017.

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12.3 Support from distance

Former volunteersWe are happy to see that former volunteers remain interested in helping and representing us intheir home countries.

• Daniel Gulde (2016) joined Steven Vanholme at the E-World fair in Essen, Germany (9 February).

• Charlotte Bodenmüller (2015) and Theresa Knechtel (2016) represented EKOenergy atthe award ceremony of the German Council for Sustainable Development, in Erfurt,

Germany on 23 March. They also gave an interview for “Radio Frei" from Erfurt, for the

programme “Stadtgespräch”.

• Tim Reinders (2014) attended the launch of The Global 100% Renewable Energy

Platform, on 8 May in Bonn, Germany.

• Sophie d'Argentré (2016) talked about EKOenergy at the event 'Finland in Normandy',on 28 September, in Rouen, France.

• Pavla Holeckova (2015) helped us to establish contacts with CEZ, the main energycompany in Czech Republic.

It is also nice that former volunteers were able to host EKOenergy staff in Prague andStockholm (where we attended conferences, see chapter 8.4). This helped us to reduce costs.

TranslatorsIn recent years, we have got help from almost 100 volunteer translators. In 2017, we did notactivate that network of translators. We focused on using the materials we translated in earlieryears and on languages spoken by the people at the EKOenergy Secretariat. Only for Chinese,Japanese and Portuguese did we get help from distant translators.

12.4 Excursions and team building

• Visit to Rankki Island, together with the employees of the Finnish Association for NatureConservation on 18 and 19 May.

• Visit to Helsinki Water Purification Plant on 8 June.• A river restoration activity in Vihtijoki-river on 20 July.• Visit to Isosaari Island, together with the employees of the Finnish Association for

Nature Conservation on 19 September.• Visit to Katri Vala Heat Pump, operated by our Licensee Helen. Helsinki, 2 November.

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13. Budget and volumes

13.1 Budget

Income• License fees (mainly based on certified volumes of 2016) : 150,000 €• European Voluntary Service program : 67.000 €• European LIFE program : 34,000 euro

(Apart from this, we also manage the money of the Climate Fund and Environmental Fund, butthis money is used for the projects - See chapter 6 and 7)

CostsMainly salaries + Secretariat costs + living costs of the volunteers.

Graph: EKOenergy's growing resources - The numbers of 2017 and 2018 are careful estimations. Thenumbers of 2017 are more precise than the numbers of 2018, for obvious reasons.

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EKOenergy's financial report of 2016 was audited in April 2017 by Joakim Rehn of GrantThornton. The audit report is available at the EKOenergy Secretariat (in Finnish). Contact us formore information.

Our accounts of the working year 2017 will be checked by the same accountant.

13.2 Volumes

In 2017 we certified around 2,6 TWh of electricity in 4 continents. The exact amount will be known on 31 March 2018.

14. Thanks

EKOenergy thrives on the enthusiasm of many. Listing everybody who helped and supportedus in 2017 would be impossible.

Our special thanks go:• to the suppliers and consumers of EKOenergy. You proved that we are on the right way,

and your enthusiasm pushes us forward.• to our volunteers and trainees.• to the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, for hosting us and giving us a lot of

administrative and technical help.

15. More information / Contact

See www.ekoenergy.org. The website is available in more than 25 languages.

Or contact the EKOenergy Secretariat:c/o Finnish Association for Nature Conservation,Itälahdenkatu 22 b A, 00210 Helsinki, Finlandinfo@ekoenergy.org+358 50 5687385 (Steven Vanholme)www.ekoenergy.org/about-us/contact-us/