Blog 7

Finland, along with other European countries have made large efforts towards the sustainable consumption and reduction goal set in place by the United Nations. One of the largest contributions they have made thus far is setting up a material efficiency center by the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Employment and Economy. This center will provide services and businesses on ways to improve material efficiency. This education strategy is commonly seen in other countries as educating people on how to solve this problem. What they have planned is to bring experts out to teach this large organizations about energy-efficiency and use of renewable energy. They will also educate them on different environmentally friendly technology and other innovative solutions for transport and food production and consumption. (United Nations 2018)

         Another step Finland has taken is sustainable procurement. The Finnish funding agency for technology and innovation is preparing a model to lower the threshold so that they may invest more in innovative environmental technology. (United Nations 2018) However, this requires commitment and consistency from larger corporations and organizations to implement these newer environmental systems. These new systems will have set targets for energy, water, paper consumption, and reducing environmental impacts of business travel.

         The Finnish Economy and its environmental impacts of material flows have been researched in a three-year project and its effects of natural resources. After this project is concluded, they hope to find some solutions to climate change, identify changeable factors and estimate their impacts. It can also calculate the effects of human activities on other variables such as employment and surplus value. (United Nations 2018) They also plan on using this program as a model frame to provide background information for future programs stakeholders will use.

         Other incentives Finland has made are raising environment and energy taxes by 10% to invest more in this problem. They also have public transport travel cards as a job perks that employers provide their commuting employees. (United Nations 2018) This would reduce the amount of fuel used in their cars as well as reduce the harmful toxins released into the air from these vehicles which is hard to avoid the majority of the time. According to the Energy Information Administration, car pollution is one the biggest contributors to climate change. (2020) Finland has made great efforts towards this sustainable development goal, and other countries will use this as a model in the future.

 

Energy Information Administration. (2020). Gasoline explained. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/gasoline/gasoline-and-the-environment.php

United Nations. (2018). Sustainable Consumption and Production. Retrieved from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/finland/SCP.pdf