The Finnish Catch the Carbon package of climate measures has developed various methods to guide climate-smart land use and to reconcile different forms of land use. This week, two key projects are presented at the international emission reduction forum of OECD countries in Paris. At the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches, the OECD countries share knowledge and best practices to find effective ways to reduce climate emissions. On Tuesday 14 November, results from the Catch the Carbon projects will be presented. These have investigated how land use decisions could be guided through ..read more

The European Commission published the Guidelines on Closer-to-Nature Forest Management last summer. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of the Environment organised a webinar on 23 October 2023 to discuss the voluntary guidelines specifically from the perspective of boreal forests. At the start of the webinar, the Commission presented the recently published Guidelines on Closer-to-Nature Forest Management. The webinar marked the opening of the discussion on the significance and implementation of the guidelines in Finland. The key themes of the webinar were retention forestry ..read more

Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen appointed a working group, whose task is to find ways to promote offshore wind power in Finland. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will also launch a legislative project on offshore wind power located in Finland’s exclusive economic zone. The measures will implement the objective of the Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo to ambitiously promote the construction of offshore wind power and to clarify the rules related to it. Working group to find ways to give Finland a competitive edge in the Baltic Sea The workin ..read more

To replace down and polyester, Fluff Stuff processes cattail seed hairs into a filling that regenerates, insulates and finally biodegrades. If you open up the side seam of a pillow or a winter jacket, you’ll usually find either fossil-based polyester fibres or down and feathers as insulation and filling. But what if the filling material could be grown locally? Fluff Stuff grew from the idea that softer plant-based materials could be used to replace animal fibres and oil-based fillings. Testing and research has demonstrated that the common wetland plant cattail’s seed hairs forming in cigar-lik ..read more

The Barents Forest Forum, held on 4–5 October 2023, discussed sustainable forestry in the northern areas of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Forum concluded Finland’s two-year chairmanship of the Forest Sector. The Working Group on Barents Forest Sector (WGBFS) of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) has been busy during Finland’s chairmanship in 2021–2023. Published in December 2021, the working group’s action plan aimed to activate forest sector operators in the Barents geographical cooperation area. In Finland, the area includes North Karelia, Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia and Lapland. The ch ..read more

On 28 September 2023, the Government submitted to Parliament its proposal for amending the Accounting Act, the Auditing Act and certain related acts. The proposed acts would implement the EU-Directive on corporate sustainability reporting. Information on the impacts related to the environment, human rights and other social matters would be published annually in a sustainability report that would be included in the company’s annual report. The Commission will define harmonised requirements concerning data content for all EU Member States in its Regulation. “Sustainability indicators and methods ..read more

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah participated in the meeting of the For Forest Group composed of the forest ministers of the most forested EU countries in Austria on 25–26 September. At the meeting, the ministers responsible for forestry of Austria, Slovenia, Sweden and Finland signed a joint statement on the EU forest policy. In their statement the ministers stress the opportunities offered by a sustainable bioeconomy and the need to take all dimensions of sustainability and local conditions into account as the key conditions of sustainability. Forest-based products are renew ..read more

The EU Member States will celebrate the European Organic Day in various ways around the autumn equinox. The staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will enjoy an organic breakfast on 25 September, and will invite the staff of the European Commission Representation in Finland and representatives of the National Nutrition Council, ProLuomu and Finnish Organic Association to join them. – With organic food we are not dependent on foreign inputs as no chemical fertilisers or pesticides are used. This means that organic production supports our national security of supply,” says Minister of ..read more

In an ambitious FinnCERES project, a multidisciplinary team of scientists from VTT and Aalto University is developing fast, highly sensitive, and selective small molecule sensors that can detect drugs with incredible precision. The novelty in this technology is the combination of carbon nanoparticles with bio-based nanocellulose. The nanocellulose helps to disperse the carbon nanotubes which in turn boosts small molecule detection. This innovative approach enables the detection of toxic drug molecules in ultra-low quantities, potentially saving lives by providing timely intervention. While th ..read more

Researchers at FinnCERES, Aalto University, and VTT have developed an additive derived from tree bark to enhance the properties of nanocellulose without the use of fossil-based additives. Nanocellulose has the inherent ability to bind a significant amount of water, making it useful in various applications, from wound dressings to packaging. However, its dry form poses challenges. The researchers have found a solution by utilizing a bio-degradable additive derived from tree bark. The phenolic compounds and salts present in tree bark reinforce the nanocellulose, reducing its disintegration in wa ..read more