Working group appointed to prepare a national mineral strategy
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has appointed a steering group to prepare a minerals strategy in accordance with the Government Programme. Kimmo Tiilikainen, Director General of the Geological Survey of Finland, will chair the steering group. The strategy will be completed at the end of 2024..
“The global instability has revealed our economic and political dependence on raw materials. Access to critical raw materials is also a bottleneck in the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy system. In addition to mineral self-sufficiency, we must also strengthen the sustainability and circular economy of the mining sector. Against this background, the preparation of a mineral strategy is a very topical undertaking,” says Kimmo Tiilikainen, Chair of the steering group.
The strategy will contain a common view of the raw material supply situation in the minerals sector and industry as well as main policies and their objectives. The work primarily aims to promote the growth of the Finnish mineral cluster in order to strengthen the clean transition and Europe’s strategic autonomy. Another objective is to increase the value added of the raw materials from the mining industry and to boost the creation of innovation ecosystems.
In addition to Tiilikainen, the steering group consists of Vice-Chair Jyrki Alkio from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment as well as representatives from industrial and business organisations, universities, key ministries, Business Finland, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and the cooperation body of regional councils.
The interest groups that are not represented in the steering group will have the opportunity to comment on the draft strategy. If necessary, key themes may be prepared by sub-groups that may include experts and representatives from other interest groups.
Formulation of a minerals strategy is based on the Government Programme of Prime Minister Orpo’s Government. The work will take into consideration links to other Government Programme entries, such as the preparation of an industrial policy strategy. The steering group will report on the preparation of the strategy to the ministerial working group on clean energy, the environment and security of supply.
Inquiries:
Kimmo Tiilikainen, Director General, Geological Survey of Finland, tel. +358 50 511 3174 (Chair of the steering group)
Jyrki Alkio, Chief Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 295 060 140 (Vice-Chair of the steering group)
Jarkko Vesa, Senior Specialist, Geological Survey of Finland, tel. +358 44 358 4500 (Secretary of the steering group)