NordenBladet — The EU General Affairs Council will meet in Brussels on 22 March. Items on the agenda for the meeting include preparations for the March European Council, changes to the Regulation on the statute and funding of European Political parties and political foundations, the European Semester and the progress of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen will represent Finland at the meeting.The General Affairs Council will discuss the draft conclusions of the European Council meeting to be held on 24–25 March. In that meeting, the European Council will discuss Russian military aggression against Ukraine, security and defence, energy, economic issues, COVID-19 and external relations.
NordenBladet — The Climate Policy Roundtable will hold its 14th meeting on Tuesday 22 March 2022. It will discuss the climate plan for the land use sector, which is due to be circulated for comments in the next few weeks. The Roundtable will consider whether the proposed set of measures is balanced and effective and how fairness should be taken into account in the plan. The Roundtable is chaired by Prime Minister Sanna Marin.As stated in the Government Programme, during this Government term the land use sector will be even more closely linked to the planning and implementation of the national climate and energy policy. The climate plan for the land use sector is being prepared under the coordination of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It will include measures to reduce climate emissions from the land use sector and to strengthen carbon sinks and carbon pools so that the effects on climate change will be at least three metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The climate plan for the land use sector is being prepared in coordination with the Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan (KAISU) and the Climate and Energy Strategy.
NordenBladet — The Ministry for Foreign Affairs publishes for the first time its long-term plan for Finland’s international climate finance, extending up to 2026. Finland’s international climate finance will increase nearly twofold during this government term compared to the previous term, and a larger share than before will be allocated to critical climate adaptation measures in developing countries. More attention will be paid to business cooperation as strong investments of the private sector will be needed to achieve the climate objectives.Finland’s international climate finance is funding channelled from Finnish development cooperation appropriations to climate action in developing countries. The plan, published now for the first time by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, demonstrates how the funding for developing countries will increase in accordance with the Government Programme. International climate finance will increase nearly twofold during this government term compared to the previous term, according to the plan an increase of 93 per cent. Climate finance will reach its peak next year, and the funding is expected to rise up to EUR 249 million. After this, the planned fundingwill continue at an annual level of approximately EUR 200 million until 2026.“Climate finance is one of our obligations under the Paris Agreement. We will take determined action to increase climate finance until 2026 and focus on comprehensive solutions. With this public finance plan, we emphasize the importance of different funding channels,” says Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari.Climate finance aims to respond in a balanced way to the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The aim is to slow down climate change and help people adapt to its inevitable consequences, such as extreme weather events. The funding consists of grant-based, investment-based and loan-based assistance. It is estimated that, as set out in the Government Programme, from 2022 onwards grant-based climate finance flows will be equally split between adaptation and mitigation.In addition to the level and distribution of the funding, the plan presents the objectives, impact, allocation, monitoring, reporting and communication of climate finance. The plan also explains how a growing amount of private funding can be used alongside public funding.Growing climate finance is an opportunity for Finnish actorsClimate finance can achieve broad-based results: it will lead not only to emission reductions but also to continued carbon sequestration. It can help to prevent disaster-related deaths, support communities in vulnerable situations to adapt to climate change , and mobilize private funding. Growing climate finance is also an important opportunity for Finnish companies and other actors. A significant part of the funding will be channelled via reliable international finance institutions and civil society organisations. Team Finland actors assist Finnish businesses in grasping new business opportunities created by the growing climate finance flows. “We are developing our support functions to better respond to the needs arising from the expertise, products and interests of Finnish operators in the emerging markets. We will intensify the renewal of partly fragmented financial instruments and consider developing a thematic call for funding,” Skinnari says.Read more in the climate finance plan (in Finnish)BackgroundFinland’s public international climate finance is funding channelled from Finnish development cooperation appropriations to climate action in developing countries. In its audit in summer 2021, the National Audit Office of Finland recommended the Ministry to prepare a climate finance plan. The Development Policy Committee published its own report on the matter in January 2022.Climate finance is guided by a number of international agreements and policies, the most important of which are the UN Framework Convention on Climate change, the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Government Programme entries on financing are based on international agreements.
NordenBladet — Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen will attend the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on 21 March 2022.The aim of the meeting is to endorse the EU’s Strategic Compass at the joint meeting of the EU foreign and defence ministers, after which the matter will be discussed by the EU Heads of State or Government at the European Council on 24 to 25 March 2022. The Strategic Compass is a strategic steering document for the EU’s security and defence cooperation that sets objectives for the next 5 to 10 years.Ukraine’s Minister of Defence will attend the defence ministers’ informal dinner via remote connection. The ministers will discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NordenBladet — The Citizens’ Pulse survey commissioned by the Government shows stress and concerns about Finland’s security and economy brought on by the crisis in Ukraine. The 33rd round of the survey was moved up by two weeks and the questions were modified to take into account the current situation.The survey showed an increase in stress, especially among 15–29-year-olds and 60–74-year-olds. Citizens’ sense of crisis is now at a similar level to where it was at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and when the Omicron variant became the dominant strain of the virus. A total of 45 per cent of the respondents were concerned about the effects of the crisis in Ukraine on Finland’s security, while around 58 per cent were concerned about its impact on the economy. Almost half of respondents – 48 per cent – were very concerned or fairly concerned that the war could escalate further.Trust in the Government, political parties and the media has increased significantly, by about 10 percentage points since the previous survey. The majority of citizens are strongly in favour of supporting Ukraine. Nearly 90 per cent of the respondents approve of the economic sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia, even if they may have significant detrimental effects on Finland. Similarly, almost 85 per cent of Finns would be prepared to receive a considerable number of Ukrainian refugees if necessary.Citizens express need for more information, strong willingness to helpJust over half of the respondents expressed the need for more information on how to prepare for a crisis or incident and how to help those affected by it. Around half of the respondents felt that they were at least somewhat inadequately prepared for a crisis. Almost nine out of ten respondents would be prepared to do volunteer work in the event of a crisis if asked to do so by the authorities.At the same time, concern about COVID-19 has dropped to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic, and compliance with health security measures has clearly declined. Satisfaction with the authorities’ COVID-19 communications has increased considerably, from 48 to 58 per cent. Around half of the respondents would get a fourth vaccine if the health authorities recommended it.
NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 21 March. One of the main topics on the meeting agenda is Russian aggression against Ukraine. In their joint session, the foreign and defence ministers are also to adopt the Strategic Compass for security and defence cooperation in the EU. After the Foreign Affairs Council, Minister Haavisto will attend the opening session of the European Humanitarian Forum. From Brussels, Minister Haavisto will travel to Malmö, where he will attend the Nordic Council Theme Session on 22 March.The Foreign Affairs Council will continue the discussion on Russian aggression against Ukraine. Finland strongly condemns Russia’s invasion, which is a blatant violation of international law. Finland responds to Russia’s actions as part of the European Union and considers it justified that the EU react strongly to Russia’s invasion. The EU must provide extensive political, economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine. It is also important to support the Eastern partner countries, especially Moldova and Georgia.The Foreign Affairs Council will also continue the discussion on the situation in Mali and the Sahel and the EU’s actions in the region. Finland stresses the importance of taking comprehensive measures to achieve sustainable peace and stability. The EU foreign ministers will hold an informal exchange with Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicu Popescu on the impact of the war in Ukraine on Moldova. Relative to the population, Moldova has received the largest number of people fleeing Ukraine. Finland has supported Moldova by sending material assistance and three experts through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to help with the coordination of assistance.The foreign and defence ministers are expected to adopt the EU’s Strategic Compass in their joint session. They have discussed the Strategic Compass on a regular basis, most recently in January. Finland aims at a broad-based, sufficiently political and concrete Strategic Compass that will develop and strengthen the EU’s security and defence cooperation. The EU must be able to bear responsibility and create security in an extensive and efficient manner. On 21 March, Minister for Foreign Affairs Haavisto will also attend the opening session of the European Humanitarian Forum, hosted by the European Commission and France, which will focus on ways to strengthen the EU’s role in the promotion of international humanitarian law and the protection of humanitarian space.From Brussels, Minister Haavisto will travel to Malmö, where he will attend the Nordic Council Theme Session on 22 March to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
NordenBladet — The Government has agreed on measures by which Finland will halve its emissions in the effort sharing sector by 2030 and set the course towards carbon neutrality by 2035. The measures decided in the autumn will be strengthened to ensure that the necessary emission reductions of 5.7 Mt in total will be reached. This is how Finland can achieve the emissions reduction target proposed by the European Commission for 2030 in the effort sharing sector, i.e. in agriculture, transport, building-specific heating and waste management.“In times like this our most urgent attention is drawn to the suffering of the Ukrainian people, the security situation in Europe and Finland’s security of supply. At the same time, the Government has continued the efforts to find solutions to the climate crisis. We have now agreed on climate measures to achieve Finland’s emission reduction targets in the effort sharing sector. With these decisions we are on the path towards a carbon-neutral Finland by 2035,” says Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Emma Kari, who chairs the Ministerial Working Group on Climate and Energy Policy.“The crisis in Europe has shown that the direction of Finland’s climate policy has been the right one: building a fossil-free welfare state is also part of security policy. Speeding up the green transition is increasingly important. Clean domestic solutions bring work and wellbeing to Finland and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” Emma Kari says.The Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan was circulated for comments in December-January and research institutes carried out assessments of the adequacy of the measures included in the plan in February 2022. According to the research institutes, the measures included in the draft version must be strengthened to achieve the objectives with sufficient certainty.Based on these assessments, the Ministerial Working Group on Climate and Energy Policy outlined further measures for the effort sharing sector. The particular needs that were identified included ways to find additional emission reductions of 0.1-0.2 Mt, strengthening climate work in the transport sector, strengthening the credibility of emission reductions in municipalities and consumption, and ensuring that climate targets for the land use sector will be exceeded, which will secure the use of the ‘flexibility’ for the land use sector.Measures for heating, transport and agriculture to be strengthened, emission reduction target for public procurementA just transition will be strengthened and climate measures of private households promoted by introducing a government guarantee model to support climate-friendly investments in households and housing companies, including geothermal heat or purchasing clean vehicles. In addition, a support model will be prepared to provide assistance to people in a fair manner e.g. in situations where fuel prices are rising sharply. The support for phasing out oil heating in households and municipalities and energy subsidies for residential buildings will be continued.Climate work in municipalities will be made more systematic by obliging municipalities and regions to draw up climate change plans. The obligation will be included in the Climate Change Act in autumn 2022. In addition, a Government Resolution on domestic and low-carbon procurement operations will be drafted. The Resolution will set an emissions reduction target for public procurement operations and the achievement of this target will also be monitored. These measures will ensure that the 0.4 Mt emission reduction calculated for the measures concerning municipalities and consumption will be achieved.Measures to reduce emissions from agriculture will be supported and strengthened, which will enable a higher emission reduction target for agriculture (0.4 Mt > 0.6 Mt by 2030) and will also improve the profitability of agriculture. Climate work in agriculture consists of a large number of measures, such as improving soil carbon sequestration and reducing methane emissions from dairy cows, and preparing the Climate Food Programme. In accordance with the Government Programme, legislative measures will not lead to additional costs for farmers without compensating them for any such costs.The achievement of emission reductions in transport is ensured by continuing the preparation of emissions trading in the national transport sector and the distance-based transport tax in case other national measures and EU-level solutions are insufficient. Emissions from transport will be reduced in line with the Roadmap for Fossil-free Transport. The production and use of biogas will be promoted by implementing the biogas programme, monitoring its impact and seeking additional measures to increase biogas production to 4 TWh. The Ministerial Working Group on Climate and Energy Policy will discuss the matter in April 2022.Government’s two other climate plans circulated for comments soonThe preparation of the Medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan has been coordinated with the processes to prepare the Climate and Energy Strategy and the climate plan for the land use sector.The draft climate plan for the land use sector will be circulated for comments within the next few weeks. The process is led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Government outlined that, as part of this plan, decisions on additional measures will be made to ensure that part of Finland’s EU-level emission reduction target for the effort sharing sector can be met by strengthening carbon sinks. Under his plan, a package of carbon exchange pilot projects will also be implemented with the aim to significantly reduce emissions and increase carbon sinks, but in such a way that this does not substitute for other emission reductions. The objective and implementation of the package will be further specified during the process, and it will be prepared swiftly so that the projects will be launched in 2022. The carbon sequestration market will be developed and a set of rules created for it.The Climate and Energy Strategy is also to be circulated for comments in April. This process is led by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The Strategy takes into account the need to increase energy self-sufficiency and security of supply and speed up the transition to renewable forms of energy, which have become even more important after Russia’s attack on Ukraine.Together, these three plans cover all emissions in Finland and the measures to reduce them.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will hold a consultation event on the draft decree concerning the rights of access to client data in healthcare and social welfare on 4 April 2022 at 9–11. The draft decree was circulated for comments in autumn 2021.At the event, the Ministry will present the draft decree that was updated based on the comments received. Participants will then have the opportunity to share their comments and views on the draft. The aim is to issue the decree as soon as possible.The event will be held online using Teams. Participants are not required to register for the event in advance.More information and the link to the event are available on the event calendar of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health: Consultation: draft decree on the rights of access to client data in healthcare and social welfare (in Finnish)
NordenBladet — On 18 March 2017, Fortum Power and Heat Oy submitted to the Government an application for an operating licence for its nuclear power plant units Loviisa 1 (LO1) and Loviisa 2 (LO2), in accordance with the Nuclear Energy Act. The operating licence would allow energy production at the units until the end of 2050 and, as required by preparations for their decommissioning, until the end of 2055. The current operating licences of the units are valid until 2027 and 2030.The company also applied for an operating licence for a final disposal facility for low and intermediate level nuclear waste located in the Loviisa power plant area until the end of 2090. The Loviisa nuclear power plant is Finland’s first nuclear power plant. Its two power plant units began production in 1977 and 1980. The power plant units are pressurised water reactors of type VVER-440. After an increase to power output, the output of both reactors exceeds 500 MW. The plant’s annual production is more than eight terawatt hours, which accounts for about 10% of Finland’s annual electricity production.The processing of operating licence applications includes a statutory consultation procedure, which will be announced in April. At that time, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will request statements from several authorities, organisations and municipalities in the affected area, and provide citizens and communities with an opportunity to express their opinions. Statements can be submitted by 12 August 2022 via the Lausuntopalvelu.fi service and other means. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment submitted its informed conclusion on EIA report on continued use of Loviisa nuclear power plant on 14 January 2022. The conclusion ended the environmental impact assessment process of the project, which also included an international assessment as part of the Espoo Convention.