In the Finnish land use planning system, municipalities have the opportunity to significantly influence land use through zoning and master planning. Through planning, municipalities can affect a wide range of different actors, not just builders. Land use planning involves making long-term decisions, as plans are in effect for decades. We are now making decisions about how land will be used, for example, in 2035, when the Finnish state is committed to being carbon neutral. Therefore, it is important that the climate and environmental impacts of land use are concretely considered in planning. In Joensuu, a joint master plan for municipalities, the Joensuu Region Master Plan 2040, is being prepared in accordance with Section 46 of the Land Use and Building Act. The plan area covers the entire areas of the municipalities of Joensuu, Kontiolahti, Liperi, Outokumpu, and Polvijärvi. This is a very significant planning project, as it addresses the major guidelines for land use for the entire region for years to come. One of the goals set for the planning work is to explore the use of voluntary ecological compensation in accordance with Chapter 11 of the Nature Conservation Act. The climate and emission impacts of the plan must also be calculated. The Joensuu Region Master Plan 2040 serves as a pilot project for this initiative, providing a model for how ecological compensation can be integrated into supra-municipal land use planning and the Finnish land use planning system in general. The main goal of the project is to reduce the environmental and climate impacts caused by zoning and land use. This is achieved by implementing ecological compensation and related methodologies as outlined in the Nature Conservation Act. In practice, this means inventorying the lost natural values of changing land use areas (e.g., designated construction sites) and the corresponding compensatory measures (Section 99 of the Nature Conservation Act) and conservation compensation areas (Section 100 of the Nature Conservation Act). In addition to enabling the compensation of unavoidable damages, the information generated in the process can be used during the planning phase to minimize the environmental impacts of land use by directing land use away from areas with the highest natural values. Ecological compensation has already been piloted in several local plans in Finland, including in Joensuu. The goal of this project is to elevate ecological compensation to a more impactful master plan level, which has not yet been systematically done in Finland. Since this is a joint master plan project for several municipalities, the impacts also extend to a broader regional level. Additionally, various emission calculation tools are utilized in the planning work, which can be used to assess and minimize the climate impacts of the plan, such as emissions and carbon sink effects. This adds novelty value to the project compared to focusing solely on the ecological compensation of habitat types. In the best case, the project will result in a master plan with comprehensively assessed environmental and climate impacts, as well as a system and data repository for how the inevitable environmental and climate damages caused by the plan can be compensated later. As a result of the project, the environmental and emission impacts of implementing the Joensuu Region Master Plan 2040 will be comprehensively assessed. Compensation areas have been mapped. The project also has national significance, as it will result in a replicable model that can be utilized in all Finnish municipalities as part of climate-resilient and biodiversity-preserving master planning.