NordenBladet — The Climate Policy Roundtable will hold its tenth meeting on Wednesday 25 August. The topic to be discussed is the EU’s Fit for 55 package, which presents the means that will enable the EU to reduce its emissions by at least 55% by 2030. This binding emission reduction target is also included in the EU Climate Law, which entered into force in summer 2021.The legislative proposals of the Fit for 55 package cover a wide range of sectors of the economy, including emissions trading reform, burden sharing between countries, energy efficiency, renewable energy, the role of the land use sector and carbon sinks, emission limits for cars, energy taxes and carbon border tax (carbon border adjustment mechanism CBAM).The Roundtable will discuss how the proposals of the EU’s Fit for 55 package will support Finland in achieving its carbon neutrality target and how just transition should be taken into account both between the Member States and nationally. The chair of the meeting is Prime Minister Sanna Marin.The measures that Finland has planned so far will not be enough to reach the EU climate target or Finland’s own carbon neutrality target by 2035. Further measures will be included in the new Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan and Climate and Energy Strategy that are currently being prepared. The outlines for the additional measures should be decided in the government budget session this autumn.The Climate Policy Roundtable brings together a broad spectrum of stakeholders from different sectors of society. The purpose of the Roundtable is to create a common understanding of how Finland can make a just transition to a carbon neutral society by 2035. With its work, the Roundtable supports the preparation and implementation of Finland’s national climate policy.To follow the work of the Roundtable in social media use #ilmastonpyöreäpöytä and #hiilineutraali2035.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — At the end of July, a total of 322,600 unemployed jobseekers were registered at the Employment and Economic Development Offices and municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. This is 64,900 less than a year earlier, but 53,700 more than in July two years ago. The number of unemployed jobseekers increased by 6,400 from the previous month. Of the unemployed jobseekers, 166,600 were customers of municipalities participating in the local government pilots on employment. The number of unemployed jobseekers also includes those fully laid off. These figures are from the Employment Bulletin of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.At the end of July, the number of people laid off was 44,400 in the whole country, which was 55,600 fewer than at the same time last year. The number of people fully laid off totalled 32,400, representing a decrease of 49,600 from July the year before. The number of people fully laid off decreased by 1,700 from June.The number of long-term unemployed — that is those who had been unemployed without interruption for at least a year — amounted to 113,900, up 36,200 on the previous year. The number of unemployed jobseekers over 50 years of age was 113,400, or 12,200 less than at the same time a year earlier.Unemployed jobseekers under 25 years of age numbered 40,300, representing a decrease of 13,700 from July last year. Of the unemployment periods of youths, 58.5 per cent ended before reaching three months between January and July. This is 4.4 percentage points less than a year before.Increase in new vacanciesThe number of new vacancies reported during July totalled 72,200, or 25,800 more than in July the previous year. In all, the number of unfilled vacancies in July amounted to 136,000, which is 49,300 more than a year ago.At the end of July, the number of persons covered by services included in the activation rate amounted to 97,800, up 3,500 on the previous year. These services include pay subsidies, labour market training, work trials and selfmotivated studies.Statistics Finland: Unemployment rate 7.1%According to the Labour Force Survey issued by Statistics Finland, in July the number of people in employment was 86,000 more than on the previous year. The employment rate was 74.9%, which was 2.3 percentage points higher than in July the year before. According to the Survey, the unemployment total was 202,000, which is 5,000 less than a year ago. The unemployment rate was 7.1%, or 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous year.Press release on the revision of the Labour Force Survey: https://www.stat.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2020-12-22_uut_001_en.htmlKey differences between Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force SurveyThis information is based on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Employment Service Statistics and the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland. The Employment Service Statistics of the Ministry are compiled on the basis of the information in the Employment and Economic Development Offices’ customer register, while the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland is based on sampling.In the Ministry’s Employment Service Statistics, people that are not in an employment relationship or employed in business are listed as unemployed. Persons fully laid-off but not full-time students are also categorised as unemployed in the Employment Service Statistics. The Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland has a stricter definition of being unemployed: a person is unemployed if he or she has actively sought employment during the preceding four weeks and is available for work over the coming two weeks. The figures of the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland are internationally comparable and thus they are the official Finnish unemployment statistics.Further information on the differences in the statistics https://tilastokeskus.fi/til/tyti/tyti_2019-09-13_men_001_en.html

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Justice has made new operational commitments to sustainable development. The Ministry of Justice is committed to combating trafficking in human beings, strengthening the rule of law in international cooperation, using research data that takes better account of different population groups, and reducing the carbon footprint of its administrative branch.The commitments implement the Ministry’s vision for sustainable development for 2030, which is ‘a democratic state governed by the rule of law, with respect for fundamental and human rights and sustainable judicial administration’. The vision is based on the goals set out in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which the Ministry of Justice has pledged to observe. – By making these new commitments, we want to challenge ourselves and others to work for sustainable development. At the same time, we are seeking to make a greater impact through our work. We will also regularly monitor the progress we make in achieving these goals, says Permanent Secretary Pekka Timonen. Comprehensive anti-trafficking measuresThe Ministry of Justice pledges to develop legislation and the activities of public authorities in a comprehensive manner in order to combat trafficking in human beings, even beyond the measures directly implementing the Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings. The Action Plan adopted by the Government in May covers the period 2021–2023.  The Ministry of Justice also pledges to adopt a participatory approach and engage in constructive dialogue in its anti-trafficking work. Furthermore, the Ministry undertakes to actively inform the public about trafficking in human beings and anti-trafficking work in various ways.Sustainable international judicial cooperationThe Ministry of Justice undertakes to strengthen the rule of law in international cooperation. The strengthening of the rule of law will support the peaceful development of society in many ways and helps guarantee protection under the law for all. The Ministry of Justice undertakes to reduce non-essential travel by increasing the use of modern technical solutions and digital materials and by participating in international meetings more often through remote connections.More detailed information on population groups to support decision-makingThe Ministry of Justice undertakes to strengthen the collection and analysis of population group-specific information as part of its efforts to develop knowledge-based decision-making. Information that takes into account different population groups is used in various research projects, such as the Fundamental Rights Barometer and the Language Barometer.The aim is to reduce inequality and strengthen good and just governance. Smaller carbon footprintThe Ministry undertakes to guide and support its administrative branch through performance guidance in order to reduce its carbon footprint. The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of the Ministry’s administrative branch by at least 75 per cent from the 2019 levels by 2035.Based on the calculations made last year, greenhouse gas emissions of the administrative branch of the Ministry of Justice amounted to around fifty thousand tonnes of CO2-equivalent (50,000 tCO2e) in 2019. The calculations were made for the first time.Commitments will be monitored annuallySociety’s Commitment to Sustainable Development and the related operational commitments are a key instrument for implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Commitments can be concrete measures, changes in practices or innovative experiments that will be carried out over a period of 5 to 10 years. The earlier operational commitments made by the Ministry of Justice concern promoting diversity in the Ministry’s recruitments, encouraging the Ministry’s personnel to adopt healthy and low-emission commuting methods, and taking sustainable development into account in the Ministry’s procurements and communications.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The whole of Government will take into use a single ‘gov.fi’ email suffix in stages. During the rest of 2021, the email addresses of all staff members at the ministries will change to addresses ending in ‘gov.fi’. The first ministries to adopt the new suffix are the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.Emails sent to the old email addresses will still reach their recipients for two years after the new suffix is adopted. From 23 August 2021 onward, the email addresses of all staff members will, as a rule, be in the format [email protected] If a person has the same first and last name as another central government employee, their email address will have an additional identifier, such as the first letter of their middle name.The email address of the registry of the Ministry of Justice will remain unchanged for the time being.The change will not affect the website addresses of the ministries. They will remain unchanged. ‘Gov.fi’ suffix for all ministries over the course of second half of the year The rest of the ministries will take into use the ‘gov.fi’ suffix in the course of 2021. The Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Environment will adopt the new suffix on 6 September 2021. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Finance will introduce it on 20 September 2021 and the Foreign Service will take it into use in November. The schedules are subject to change.“By taking into use one single email address suffix, it is possible to make the Government more unified and to make it easier for citizens to contact government officials. The change will be made as part of the normal updating of the email system,” said Janne Kerkelä, Director General, Prime Minister’s Office. In connection with the reform, the Government is also making improvements to the security of its email traffic and enhancing its ability to detect potential information security anomalies.The ‘gov.fi’ suffix is easily identifiable and the same principle is in use in other countries. A uniform system of email addresses makes it easier to contact the Government. It also makes it easier for government staff to switch jobs between different ministries. 

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF will establish two innovation hubs in Finland. The hubs are the latest addition to the UN competence cluster built in Finland in recent years by UNOPS and UN Global Pulse.Finland’s long-term partnership with UNICEF will deepen as the children’s fund will transfer part of its innovation activities to Finland. Two innovation hubs will be established in Finland, focusing on the development, testing and scaling of new solutions in the field of learning and innovative financing. The hubs will start operating during this autumn.Almost all children in the world start school, but it is estimated that 617 million children and young people do not learn even the basic skills at school. UNICEF’s Global Learning Innovation Hub will promote teaching and learning especially in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education through digital solutions. The Global Innovative Finance Hub, on the other hand, will seek and develop new types of financing models and financial technologies that will benefit the children of the world. “The placement of the hubs in Finland is an excellent indication of Finland’s commitment to UNICEF’s work and our strong innovation expertise. We want to develop new solutions to address the learning crisis in cooperation with children and young people. The hubs now being established will support Finland’s strengths and our objective to create a UN cluster of innovation in Finland,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.UNICEF is Finland’s long-standing UN partner in promoting children’s rights, and Finland and UNICEF have been collaborating for several years to promote innovation. For example, Finland supports the UNICEF Innovation Fund and the development of international policy guidance on AI for children. The hubs will offer opportunities for multi-sectoral cooperation with the Finnish private and public sector as well as research and civil society organisations. The hubs will enable Finnish technological and social innovations to be utilised more widely throughout the world.
“Partnerships are at the very heart of our work to reach every child. UNICEF is grateful for Finland’s generosity and support. Together, we’re committed to innovating and finding solutions to the challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable children,” says UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.UN organisations already operating in Finland are The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), the UN Global Pulse (formerly the United Nations Technology Innovation Laboratory UNTIL) focusing on foresight work, the Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i) initiative of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The whole of Government will take into use a single ‘gov.fi’ email suffix in stages. During the rest of 2021, the email addresses of all staff members at the ministries will change to addresses ending in ‘gov.fi’. The first ministries to adopt the new suffix are the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Justice.From 23 August 2021 onward, the email addresses of staff at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Justice will, as a rule, be in the format [email protected] Emails sent to the old email addresses will still reach their recipients for two years after the new suffix is adopted.The general email addresses of the ministries will change later in 2021. This applies to the addresses of the registries, for example. The change will not affect the website addresses of the ministries. They will remain unchanged.‘Gov.fi’ suffix for all ministries over the course of second half of the yearThe rest of the ministries will take into use the ‘gov.fi’ suffix in the course of 2021. The Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Environment will adopt the new suffix on 6 September 2021. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Finance will introduce it on 20 September 2021 and the Foreign Service will take it into use in November. The schedules are subject to change.The email addresses of those who work in tasks requiring greater security will adopt the suffix ‘@govsec.fi’. The Ministry of the Interior will change the email addresses of all staff members to [email protected] on 4 October 2021.“By taking into use one single email address suffix, it is possible to make the Government more unified and to make it easier for citizens to contact government officials. The change will be made as part of the normal updating of the email system,” said Janne Kerkelä, Director General, Prime Minister’s Office.In connection with the reform, the Government is also making improvements to the security of its email traffic and enhancing its ability to detect potential information security anomalies.The ‘gov.fi’ suffix is easily identifiable and the same principle is in use in other countries. A uniform system of email addresses makes it easier to contact the Government. It also makes it easier for government staff to switch jobs between different ministries.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is making preparations to expand and strengthen the network of Finnish missions abroad. A new embassy will be opened in Dakar, Senegal. The embassy would start operations at some point later this year. In September 2020, Finland reopened its embassy in Manila, the Philippines. In addition to Dakar, Finland is currently preparing to open a mission in the capital of Qatar, Doha.The operation of the Foreign Service relies on a comprehensive network of diplomatic and consular missions abroad. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs aims to allocate resources to countries whose political and economic weight for Finland is growing. The Ministry has looked extensively into various options. The Government Programme, which mentions Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia as possible options, has served as a basis for this consideration. Both foreign policy needs and Finland’s commercial interests were taken into account in the consideration. The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is a diplomatic centre for West Africa and a natural choice for the location of the new embassy. In line with the policies of its Africa strategy adopted in March 2021, Finland aims to diversify and deepen its relations with African countries. In order to achieve this objective, Finland needs to increase its diplomatic and commercial presence on the continent. A Finnish mission in Dakar can cover several countries in that area, including the Sahel region, whose security development Europe is closely monitoring. “The embassy now opening in Dakar is Finland’s first embassy in French-speaking West Africa and thus an important addition to our network of missions. Senegal is an important partner and a stabilising actor throughout the region for Finland and the European Union,” says Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto.In the French-speaking West Africa, there are many countries experiencing strong economic growth and Senegal is one of the region’s economic and logistical centres.  “The new embassy in Dakar will significantly improve Team Finland’s opportunities to support market access for Finnish companies in this region as there is ample potential to increase trade and cooperate more closely,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi