Euronews.green reports that the generous oil reserves that Estonia enjoys are part of the reason why it slipped in a non-sustainable position, but country officials are now looking to move away from the smokey past.

Estonia committed in 2021, under Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, to phase out the production of oil sands by the year 2040, while in 2022, the nation set the ambition to power itself just from renewables by the next decade.

Among Central and Eastern European countries, this was the most ambitious renewables timeline, according to experts at energy think tank Ember.

"I think that the past two years have been very, very exciting in terms of green transition in Estonia", said the country's Prime Minister, who promised to phase out shale oil production by 2035 and reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

In the mission to give up on polluting fossil fuels, country officials now look to replace them with things like solar and wind power. Next year, Estonia looks to start up the country's largest wind power farm, capable of delivering 8% of its energy requirements.

Regarding sustainable transport, one large project which will facilitate this habit in the Baltic countries is the Rail Baltica initiative. It sees 870 kilometers of railways spreading across Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, meaning less flights and more electricity-powered train journeys. Truck transport will also be less of a need in the area, as well, after the railway system will be implemented, since freight trains can take on that task.

Besides making public transport free in the capital city of Tallinn, Estonian authorities also look to electrify trains, ferries and impose taxes on cars to discourage ownership of polluting vehicles.

The Estonian government also sought to protect 30% of the country's land and waters by 2030, putting a big emphasis on nature and its ecosystems. These are just some of the measures that count transform this Eastern European country from one of Europe's biggest polluters, to one of its winners in terms of sustainable development.