NordenBladet — Finland intends to propose the Saimaa ringed seal habitats in the Lake Saimaa archipelago as a new natural site to be inscribed on the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen told about the process to update the tentative list at the World Heritage Forum on 11 November.

The aim of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention is to ensure that the world’s most valuable natural and cultural heritage sites are preserved. The inscription of a site on the World Heritage list requires that it is of special global significance and the preservation of its values has been ensured.“According to the National World Heritage Strategy, the sites Finland proposes to be inscribed on the list must be of very special value. This is what the Saimaa ringed seal habitats truly are. The protection of Saimaa ringed seal has become the symbol of nature conservation in Finland, and it requires constant efforts,” Mikkonen says. The population that at its lowest was just 130 to 160 individuals has now recovered to about 400 individuals. However, climate change is a serious threat to the Saimaa ringed seal population as well.The proposed World Heritage site is part of Lake Saimaa, the largest lake in Finland. What Finland is proposing is a so-called serial nomination that would mainly consist of state-owned protection areas included in the Nature 2000 network. “The national urban park envisaged to be set up in Savonlinna and restrictions on net fishing would significantly support the approval of the project at UNESCO,” Mikkonen says.

The tentative list of Finland is currently being updated in accordance with the World Heritage Strategy. The archipelago habitats of Saimaa ringed seal is the proposal of the Ministry of the Environment and Metsähallitus for a natural World Heritage site. Metsähallitus is a state-owned enterprise that manages state-owned lands and waters in Finland. The Ministry of Education and Culture will give its proposal for the cultural sites later on. The proposals will be included in the national tentative list as sites that Finland will nominate for inscription on the list of World Heritage sites. The Ministries aim to submit the tentative list updated with the new sites to UNESCO in January 2021. The decision on the sites to be inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites is made by the World Heritage Committee composed of 21 state parties to the Convention. “Our aim is that the Committee could decide on the inscription of the Saimaa ringed seal habitats in Lake Saimaa archipelago on the list of World Heritage sites at its meeting in 2024,” Mikkonen says.At the moment there are a total of 1,121 sites on the list, of which 213 represent natural heritage. Finland has seven World Heritage sites on the list, six of which represent cultural heritage and one, the Kvarken Archipelago, is a natural heritage site.The estimated costs of the project in 2021–2023 are about EUR 210,000. The annual costs of Metsähallitus arising from the prestudy and when the application is being prepared would amount to about EUR 70,000. In the other sites in Finland the appreciation and interest associated with the World Heritage sites has significantly boosted the economies of the regions concerned. “What the growth in tourism also means is shared responsibility for preserving the values of the World Heritage sites despite the larger numbers of visitors,” Minister Krista Mikkonen says.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government’s objective is to direct more private funding towards sustainable investments in the future. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has launched a project aimed at identifying both the opportunities and financing challenges of sustainable business for Finnish companies.

The project will be carried out with funding from the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme and will develop tools for companies to measure effectiveness and to make use of sustainable funding.“Climate change mitigation and sustainable development are the Government’s key objectives. In order to achieve these climate objectives, it is important that investments in the economic and social renewal are launched and that they find funding in the market. The aims and measures provide Finland with an opportunity to lead the way in solving global development challenges and simultaneously create profitable international business for our companies,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

Pilot projects in sustainable development to create new solutions In practice, key stakeholders will work together during the project to identify concrete financing solutions and operating models that will help generate investments more efficiently in line with the sustainable development goals. The project will also prepare the public sector for utilising financing instruments that boost investments in sustainable development.“What I find is an excellent starting point in this project is the fact that measuring and reporting business sustainability is not seen as a duty that only certain operators subject to regulation must adhere to. I would like companies to consider sustainability as an opportunity to distinguish themselves in a positive way,” Minister Lintilä adds.

Solutions will be developed in pilot projects linked to a specific challenge in sustainable development. Private and public sector experts will select the pilot projects in cooperation. Examples of possible themes include technologies that promote carbon neutrality, a sustainable food system, clean water solutions and a circular economy. The tools and financing solutions that will be developed will become more widely available after the project.

Project is based on UN Sustainable Development GoalsFinland is committed to implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development both in Finland and in international cooperation during this decade. The implementation is guided by the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Gaia Consulting Oy will be responsible for carrying out the two-year project in association with AARC Ltd and Trinomics B.V., while the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be in charge of national coordination. The project will be implemented in cooperation with the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health requests opinions on the draft government proposal for temporarily amending the Communicable Diseases Act to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in cross-border traffic. The aim of the proposal is to focus measures, based on a risk assessment, on travellers arriving in Finland at airports, ports and land borders.

Comments can be submitted between 10 and 23 November 2020. Following the consultation round, the Government intends to submit its proposal to Parliament on 3 December 2020.It is proposed that three new temporary sections be added to the Communicable Diseases Act — sections 60a, 60b and 60c and a new subsection to section 60. The first one would lay down provisions on imposing quarantine on people arriving in Finland from high-risk countries on the grounds that they have been exposed or are justifiably suspected of having been exposed to COVID-19. Section 60b in turn would apply to exceptional situations where quarantine is not imposed, and section 60c would apply to the provision of executive assistance to the authority in charge of communicable diseases in the relevant municipality. The proposed new subsection of section 60 would state that section 60a lays down provisions on the duration of COVID-19 quarantine.Person arriving in Finland could be placed in quarantine under certain conditionsThe physician in charge of communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district could decide to place a person under quarantine for a maximum of ten days, if this was necessary to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. This could happen under certain conditions when a person arrives in Finland from a country or other geographically restricted areawhere the incidence of COVID-19 cases, the number of cases relative to the population, during the last 14 days is at least double compared to Finland,where the rate of infected people in the general population can be estimated to be at least one per 1,000 people, and if the person poses a significant risk of spreading the disease upon their arrival in Finland.

Provisions on high-risk countries and regions would be laid down by government decree. The decree would remain in force up to one month at a time. People arriving in Finland would not be placed under quarantine if they could present a reliable certificate by a physician stating that they have recovered from a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 or that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.Furthermore, they could not be placed under quarantine if their stay in Finland lasted for a maximum of three days, they presented a reliable certificate of a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 48 hours prior to their journey or if they were willing to take a COVID-19 test immediately upon their arrival in the country and the test result was negative.Similarly, the quarantine would not be imposed if their stay in Finland lasted for 4–6 days and they could present a reliable certificate of a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 48 hours prior to their journey and they were willing to take a second COVID-19 test immediately upon their arrival in the country.

Quarantine would not apply to regular border crossings between border communities, for example Temporary section 60b of the Communicable Diseases Act would lay down provisions on exceptions where people could not be placed under quarantine. Quarantine would not be imposed on people travelling regularly between border communities for the purposes of work, whether as an employee, an entrepreneur or a self-employed person, or studies or for securing their income. The exceptions would thus apply to land border crossings between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Norway and to travel by air or sea between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Estonia.The quarantine requirement would not apply to diplomats; drivers operating in passenger and freight transport in the logistics and transport sector; on-duty crew members of vessels, aircraft and trains and their change crew; and persons travelling by air via Finland, provided that they do not leave the airport. Similarly, quarantine would not be imposed on people travelling for compelling personal reasons, for example people travelling to meet their underage children. In exceptional cases, travellers must be able to provide, on request, the authority in charge of preventing communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district with the necessary information. Police, Customs, Border Guard and Defence Forces could provide executive assistance to municipal authorities Temporary section 60c of the Communicable Diseases Act would lay down provisions on the right of the Police, Customs, the Border Guard and the Defence Forces to provide, on request, executive assistance to the authority in charge of communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district in connection with measures related to the COVID-19 crisis. The provision of executive assistance could not, however, endanger the performance of their other important statutory duties.

The authorities providing executive assistance would have the right to inspect the certificates presented by travellers which state that they got a negative result from a COVID-19 test, they have recovered from COVID-19 or they have been vaccinated against it. Such certificates would be required under section 60a of the Act. In addition, they would have the right to inspect the information required in exceptional cases under section 60b. The authorities providing executive assistance could also stop vehicles, direct traffic and prevent people from leaving until a decision on the quarantine has been made. The person performing the inspection would be bound by the obligation not to disclose any information obtained during the inspection.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Digitalisation and increase in knowledge work are reflected in working life. According to the Working Life Barometer 2019, working in haste was normal for many wage and salary earners, with almost one-third of them working in haste on a daily basis.

More wage and salary earners than before considered their work mentally strenuous and close to a half of them experienced harmful stress at work. On the other hand, the majority of wage and salary earners experienced engagement – enthusiasm, drive and immersion – in their work. These are the conclusions of the Working Life Barometer published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 10 November 2020.For the first time in 2019, the Working Life Barometer surveyed the symptoms of work exhaustion. The most commonly experienced symptom of work exhaustion was mental exhaustion, that is chronic fatigue, which was experienced always or often by 12% of wage and salary earners and sometimes by 37% of them. About 10% of those surveyed experienced a lack of enthusiasm and concentration difficulties always or often, while slightly less than a third reported having such experiences sometimes. Difficulties in managing emotions was the least commonly experienced symptom. The symptoms of work exhaustion were linked to the experience of haste, stress and mental strain of work. Women experienced symptoms of exhaustion more often than men and non-manual workers more often than manual workers did. The symptoms of work exhaustion were most common in the municipal sector. “In many ways, today’s working life requires much more from employees than before. From the perspective of extending careers, it is essential that people can handle working life. By developing skills and the way we work we can promote both wellbeing at work and longer careers,” says Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen.

Despite the occasional strain of work, the majority of wage and salary earners had experienced a positive feeling of engagement in their work. In 2019, most wage and salary earners reported feeling enthusiasm (64%) and drive (63%) in their work. In addition, more than half (56%) had experienced immersion in the work. Gender, age or socio-economic status had surprisingly little impact on the experience of work engagement. Employees in the municipal sector felt work engagement most often.  “This feeling of engagement is a good example of how successfully developing working life has increased well-being at work and at the same time improved productivity. Employees who are engaged in their work feel better in general and are more productive. This, in turn, plays an important role in the success of organisations,” Minister of Employment Haatainen adds.

Segregation of working life reflected in working conditionsThe segregation of working life, that is the division of the labour market into male-dominated and female-dominated sectors, is also reflected in working conditions. According to the Working Life Barometer, women are systematically less able to influence their work than men are. Women have less flexibility in their working hours and they experience more harmful haste, mental strain and physical violence than men. Women were also more dissatisfied with the incentive offered by their pay than men. “Gender equality must be promoted in all circumstances, both during and after the coronavirus crisis. However, the inequalities in working conditions will not be resolved overnight. We need broad-based action. Among the most important measures is the family leave reform, which aims to divide the responsibility of child care in families more evenly,” Minister Haatainen says.  The coronavirus epidemic does not show in the results of the Working Life Barometer 2019.  However, the results of the barometer provide a comprehensive picture of how wage and salary earners experienced working life just before the start of the epidemic. “The coronavirus crisis will accelerate the structural changes in working life. There has been a shift to remote work and general uncertainty has increased. These changes should be carefully examined. The epidemic will be reflected in next year’s Working Life Barometer. The 2019 barometer will serve as an important basis for examining the results of next year,” adds Haatainen. What is the Working Life Barometer?Conducted since 1992, the Working Life Barometer is a sample study that examines the development of the quality of working life from the viewpoint of Finnish employees. The data for 2019 are based on telephone interviews conducted by Statistics Finland in August and September in connection with the Labour Force Survey. 1,555 wage and salary earners responded to the barometer study in 2019. The data can reliably be generalised to apply to employees everywhere in Finland and in all sectors.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 24 November 2020, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will organise a public webinar on equality, technology and innovation. The themes will be promoted under Finnish leadership in the global Generation Equality campaign.How should technology and innovations be used to promote gender equality? How to ensure equal opportunities for everyone to participate in future information societies, and what challenges are expected? Why should we work for equal opportunities in technology and innovations – and how will our businesses and societies benefit from an equal technology sector?Answers to these and other questions concerning equality, technology and innovation will be sought on Tuesday 24 November at 14.00–16.00 in a public webinar, which will launch discussion on Finland’s contribution to the promotion of the Generation Equality campaign.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi