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6.2.2025 | Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen's speech at the Wood from Finland Conference on 6 February 2025 Publication date 6.2.2025 10.23 | Published in English on 31.10.2025 at 15.20 Type: Speech Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honor to address you ...

6.2.2025 | Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen's speech at the Wood from Finland Conference on 6 February 2025 Publication date 6.2.2025 10.26 Type: Speech Ladies and gentlemen, It is a great honor to address you today at the International Conference on Sawmi...

Ministry of Education and Culture Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Mika Poutala Christian Democrats in Finland Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Poutala is responsible for matters covered by the Department of Youth and S...

Ministry of Education and Culture Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Mika Poutala Christian Democrats in Finland Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Poutala is responsible for matters covered by the Department of Youth and S...

Governments and ministers You can browse the information on the site by government, minister, ministerial title and ministry. All ministers are listed for each government, along with their terms of office. The information on individual ministers i...

Ministry of Education and Culture Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Mika Poutala Christian Democrats in Finland Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity Poutala is responsible for matters covered by the Department of Youth and S...

Governments and ministers You can browse the information on the site by government, minister, ministerial title and ministry. All ministers are listed for each government, along with their terms of office. The information on individual ministers i...

24.11.2022 | Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisalo gave her speech at the Into the Woods event on 24th of November 2022. The event, held at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia in Espoo, brought together high-level European decision-makers to explore solutions forests can offer in the pursuit of good living environments.

Governments and ministers You can browse the information on the site by government, minister, ministerial title and ministry. All ministers are listed for each government, along with their terms of office. The information on individual ministers i...

24.11.2022 | The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland Antti Kurvinen gave a speech at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia in Espoo, where high-level European decision-makers convened to explore solutions that forests can offer in the pursuit of good living environments.

24.11.2022 | Ympäristö- ja ilmastoministeri Maria Ohisalo puhui 24.11.2022 Espoossa järjestetyssä Into the Woods -tapahtumassa. Tapahtumassa Euroopan korkean tason päättäjät keskustelivat metsien roolista hyvien elinympäristöjen rakentamisessa.

15.11.2022 | On 24 November, high-level European decision-makers will convene at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia in Espoo to explore solutions forests can offer in the pursuit of good living environments. Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s guests at the Into the Woods event will be President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, European Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch.

24.11.2022 | Miljö och klimatminister Maria Ohisalo's tal i Into the Woods -evenemanget 24.11.2022. Evenemanget, som organiserades i Finlands naturcentrum Haltia i Esbo, samlades europeiska politiska beslutsfattare på hög nivå för att diskutera hurdana lösningar skogarna kan erbjuda när det gäller att skapa goda livsmiljöer.

24.11.2022 | Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin spoke at the New European Bauhaus Goes Into the Woods event in Espoo, Finland, on 24 November 2022. Check against delivery.

15.11.2022 | Euroopan korkean tason poliittiset päättäjät kokoontuvat 24. marraskuuta Suomen luontokeskus Haltiaan, Espooseen keskustelemaan siitä, millaisia ratkaisuja metsät tarjoavat hyvien elinympäristöjen tavoittelussa. Pääministeri Sanna Marinin vieraiksi Into the Woods -tapahtumaan saapuvat Euroopan komission puheenjohtaja Ursula von der Leyen, ympäristöasioista vastaava komissaari Virginijus Sinkevičius, Viron pääministeri Kaja Kallas ja Ruotsin varapääministeri Ebba Busch.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo visited Kyiv on 28 May 2025. Finland supports Ukraine On 24 February 2022, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in breach of the UN Charter and international law. Finland strongly condemns Russia’s military actions in...

24.11.2022 | Euroopan korkean tason päättäjät keskustelivat pääministeri Sanna Marinin johdolla torstaina 24.11.2022 Suomen luontokeskus Haltiassa metsien roolista hyvien elinympäristöjen rakentamisessa. Maa- ja metsätalousministeri Antti Kurvinen nosti puheessaan esille puun monipuoliset ominaisuudet uusiutuvana materiaalina, innovaatiot ja metsiä koskevan ajankohtaisen keskustelun.

15.11.2022 | Den 24 november samlas europeiska politiska beslutsfattare på hög nivå i Finlands naturcentrum Haltia i Esbo för att diskutera hurdana lösningar skogarna kan erbjuda när det gäller att skapa goda livsmiljöer. I evenemanget Into the Woods deltar på inbjudan av statsminister Sanna Marin Europeiska kommissionens ordförande Ursula von der Leyen, kommissionären med ansvar för miljöfrågor Virginijus Sinkevičius, Estlands premiärminister Kaja Kallas och Sveriges vice statsminister Ebba Busch.

House of the Estates The House of the Estates is a cultural and historical monument and a government meeting and reception venue located on Snellmaninkatu in the Kruununhaka district of Helsinki, opposite the Bank of Finland. Many people are famil...

15.11.2022 | On 24 November, high-level European decision-makers will convene at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia in Espoo to explore solutions forests can offer in the pursuit of good living environments. Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s guests at the Into the Woods event will be President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, European Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch.

15.11.2022 | Den 24 november samlas europeiska politiska beslutsfattare på hög nivå i Finlands naturcentrum Haltia i Esbo för att diskutera hurdana lösningar skogarna kan erbjuda när det gäller att skapa goda livsmiljöer. I evenemanget Into the Woods deltar på inbjudan av statsminister Sanna Marin Europeiska kommissionens ordförande Ursula von der Leyen, kommissionären med ansvar för miljöfrågor Virginijus Sinkevičius, Estlands premiärminister Kaja Kallas och Sveriges vice statsminister Ebba Busch.

15.11.2022 | Euroopan korkean tason poliittiset päättäjät kokoontuvat 24. marraskuuta Suomen luontokeskus Haltiaan, Espooseen keskustelemaan siitä, millaisia ratkaisuja metsät tarjoavat hyvien elinympäristöjen tavoittelussa. Pääministeri Sanna Marinin vieraiksi Into the Woods -tapahtumaan saapuvat Euroopan komission puheenjohtaja Ursula von der Leyen, ympäristöasioista vastaava komissaari Virginijus Sinkevičius, Viron pääministeri Kaja Kallas ja Ruotsin varapääministeri Ebba Busch.

3.6.2026 | In their declaration, the European ministers responsible for forests committed to strengthening the role of sustainable forest management in safeguarding the future of Europe’s forests amid rapidly changing environmental, economic, social and geopolitical conditions. In addition, at their meeting in Stockholm on 2–3 June 2026, the ministers reaffirmed their support for the recovery and sustainable management of Ukraine’s forests and the rebuilding of its forest sector.

1.4.2026 | The nature values market supports the work to promote nature management in forests and offers an alternative way to seek funding that used to be mainly based on central government sources. In North Karelia, nature values trading is piloted in a few mire restoration sites.

25.2.2026 | Varkaus – a living industrial cultural heritage – was awarded the Cultural Heritage Label by the European Commission. The label is designated to sites located in the European Union that strongly embody the history, culture and integration of Europe.

4.12.2025 | On 4 December 2025, the Government submitted the national Energy and Climate Strategy to Parliament as a report. In line with the Government Programme, the strategy will accelerate the clean transition, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen carbon sinks.

27.8.2025 | The Canadian province of Québec and Finland are deepening their collaboration in the forest sector. They have signed a declaration of intent to improve the conditions for commercial and research collaboration in forestry and bioeconomy.

21.8.2024 | For Forest+ is a group dedicated to advocating for the interests of the forested Member States within the EU. Ministers from the group’s member states – Austria, France, Slovenia and Sweden – and their representatives visited Finland on the invitation of the Finnish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah between 20 and 21 August 2024. During their visit, the ministers discussed next st...

11.3.2025 | The webinar series of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO that started on Tuesday 11 March is part of a global initiative aimed to develop forest-based bioeconomy worldwide. At the opening of the series, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah stressed the role of multilateral cooperation as we move towards sustainable forest-based bioeconomy.

9.10.2024 | On 9 October 2024, the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy discussed and supported the new outlines for the ownership policy concerning Metsähallitus for 2024–2027. Besides the reconciliation of different needs, new objectives have also been included. Among the topics concerned are the economic benefit from the operations of Metsähallitus to the State and promotion of biodiversity and renewable energy.

21.3.2025 | Work to ensure the security of supply and growth in food exports and the forest-based bioeconomy is making good progress. A growth package of EUR 10 million was introduced last spring, and EUR 5.7 million of this will be targeted to promoting food exports and developing value chains in the food sector in 2025.

23.4.2025 | Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government has agreed on the General Government Fiscal Plan for 2026–2029. The decisions focus on reinforcing the conditions for economic growth and enhancing the security of Finland and the Finnish people. At the same time, the Government will ensure that public finances are sustainable. The growth package will be financed responsibly through measures to increase general government revenue and reduce expenditure.

5.2.2025 | The Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland METSO (2008–2025) has had a positive impact on forest biodiversity. This is the conclusion of the independent final evaluation of the programme. A working group of the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is preparing the next period of the programme that will start in 2026.

25.11.2024 | Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah visits Canada with a delegation of the Finnish forestry and bioeconomy actors on 24–28 November. Minister Essayah will deliver the keynote speech at the Scaling Up Bioeconomy Conference 2024 in Ottawa. Finland is the Feature Country of this year’s conference. In addition, the Minister and the business delegation will visit the province of Quebec.

13.6.2024 | Minister of Climate and the Environment Kai Mykkänen meets European Commissioner for Climate Action Wopke Hoekstra on 13 June in Helsinki.

12.3.2025 | The last projects of the Catch the Carbon package of climate measures ended at the end of 2024. The implementation of the knowledge and climate change resilient solutions produced in the package of 180 measures will continue and be further intensified through cooperation in different parts of the country. The processes to support this include the activities of the National Climate Unit of the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres).

20.12.2023 | Defence Forces to acquire grenade and cartridge boxes Ministry of Defence Publication date 20.12.2023 13.52 Type: Press release The Defence Forces have signed a four-year agreement to procure grenade and cartridge boxes. Framework agreements to pr...

14.6.2024 | On 14 June 2024, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment granted to nine different projects a total of EUR 46.4 million in RRF energy investment aid under the Sustainable Growth Programme for Finland. Of the aid, EUR 24,553,932 will be allocated to three clean transition investments (REPowerEU) and EUR 21,864,440 to six energy infrastructure projects.

15.3.2024 | At its meeting on 15 March, the Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs outlined Finland’s positions on the European Commission’s vision for the post-2030 transition towards climate neutrality by 2050. In addition, the Ministerial Committee outlined Finland’s positions on the development of the EU’s Action Plan on Military Mobility and the national action plan.

1.3.2023 | Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisalo and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Antti Kurvinen have convened a roundtable to discuss the role of the forest sector in climate policy. The roundtable for the forest sector will meet on Thursday 2 March.

2.3.2023 | On Thursday 2 March, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Maria Ohisalo and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Antti Kurvinen convened a roundtable to discuss the role of the forest sector in climate policy. The aim of the discussion was to clarify the shared understanding of the situation and find solutions to strengthen sinks and reduce emissions.

5.10.2023 | 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.

4.8.2023 | Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, approximately one third of the energy used in Finland was imported from Russia. That share was reduced almost to zero in a few months, and the energy war launched by Russia increased consumer prices remarkably. As the energy markets have changed, it is the time to look how Russian energy was replaced and what more permanent effects trade changes will have.

14.7.2023 | Finland’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by approximately 4% in 2022. The land use sector was a minor carbon sink. According to the Annual Climate Report, additional measures are needed particularly to strengthen the carbon sink of the land use sector to enable the achievement of the Finnish land use sector’s obligation set at the EU level. The achievement of the Finnish effort sharing sector’s obligation set at the EU level is also uncertain.

27.1.2021 | The ForestValue network has announced a call for a joint European research project that aims to support the sustainable and multifunctional use and management of forests and promote building with wood. The number of countries participating in the call is 10 and the total funding budget is about 11,5 million euro.

21.1.2022 | The EU’s environment and energy ministers will convene in informal meetings in Amiens, France on 20–22 January 2022. Emma Kari, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, and Jukka Ihanus, State Secretary to Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä, will represent Finland in the meetings hosted by France.

27.4.2023 | During the current government term, Finland has made significant contributions to climate change resilient and sustainable solutions in the land use sector by funding more than 100 projects that produce research knowledge to serve as the basis for decision-making. Topics where groundbreaking research is done include soil studies and carbon sequestration, which are highly topical in the EU contexts as well.

8.12.2022 | The atmosphere in Tanzania has become more open with the current president. There is a lot of talk about problems with women’s rights, for example, and this makes it easier to promote these rights, according to Finland’s Ambassador to Tanzania Teresa Zitting.

11.11.2022 | All legislative initiatives of the extensive Fit-for-55 package published by the European Commission in summer 2021 have now proceeded to the trilogue negotiations. The negotiations on the LULUCF Regulation concerning land use, land use change and forestry that started on Thursday 10 November continued till the small hours. An outcome was reached, but the agreement is provisional until it has been formally adopted.

31.5.2021 | Almost two thousand people took part in the process to create a Nordic perspective for the European Commission’s New European Bauhaus initiative. The participants considered that Nordic values such as sustainability, closeness to nature, equality and inclusion provide a good basis for housing and building. The final report on the outcomes of the Nordic co-design process has now been published and submitted to the European Commission.

27.6.2022 | The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment requests opinions on the proposed programme, regional transition plans and environmental report of the Just Transition Fund (JTF). The Fund mitigates the socio-economic and environmental effects that decarbonisation causes to regional economies and employment in the EU. In Finland, funding will be directed at the reform of the economic structure and measu...

18.1.2022 | In 2020, the use of renewable energy in total energy consumption surpassed the use of fossil energy. The rapid increase in the price of emission allowances promotes investments in renewable energy and their use. The biogas sector will advance with the introduction of the distribution obligation and the guarantee of origin system. These were the conclusions of a thematic report on renewable energy published on 18 January 2022.

31.5.2021 | Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will participate in a virtual Team Finland visit to China in June 2021. The aim is to strengthen relations between Finnish and Chinese companies, particularly within the low-carbon and circular economy, the bioeconomy and maritime industry.

9.12.2021 | At its meeting on Thursday 9 December, the Climate Policy Roundtable discussed low-carbon construction. Concrete measures to promote low-carbon construction that were identified include life cycle analysis of emissions from buildings, land use planning and community structure, and investments in research and development. The meeting was chaired by Terhi Lehtonen, State Secretary to the Minister...

23.2.2021 | The funding decisions for the Catch the Carbon research and innovation programme’s first round of applications have been made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. A total of EUR 10.7 million was granted to ten research and innovation projects. This funding is part of the government programme’s climate action package for the land use sector. It is a significant public investment in the sector’s climate objectives, including agriculture and forestry. 

25.2.2021 | The Government submitted the first supplementary budget proposal for 2021 to Parliament on Thursday 25 February. The supplementary budget makes special provisions for needs arising from the COVID-19 situation.

18.2.2021 | By the end of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will draw up a comprehensive climate plan concerning agriculture, forestry and the land use sector that will be part of the planning system of the new Climate Change Act. The proposal for the plan will be prepared by an inter-administrative working group composed of public officials, appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on 16 February 2021.The Government is to approve the report on the climate plan in early 2022.

11.6.2021 | The EU Ministers responsible for energy issues will convene in Luxembourg on 11 June 2021. The ministers aim to adopt a general approach on the proposed revision of the regulation on cross-border energy infrastructure (so-called TEN-E regulation), to discuss the hydrogen strategy published by the European Commission in July 2020 and to adopt conclusions on the renovations of buildings in Europe. St...

29.6.2022 | The EU target of carbon neutrality by 2050 at the latest was decided during Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2019. On 29 June 2022, the EU Environment Council in Luxembourg reached general approaches on the key legislative proposals of the 55% emission reduction target by 2030, i.e. the Fit for 55 package, after long negotiations. 

15.6.2026 | Näringsminister Sakari Puisto besöker Storbritannien den 16–18 juni. Besöket riktar sig till London och Cambridge och teman för besöket är innovations- och teknologipolitik, finansmarknaden och Finlands styrkor i den geoekonomiska omvälvningen.