6. Nordic Countries

This was a memorable year for international environmental law-making. While the COVID-19 pandemic continued to pose challenges, the largest wave of postponed meetings was over, and nations took significant steps forward in addressing some of the most pressing global environmental problems. Progress was seen in regard to international efforts to deal with the biodiversity crisis and plastic pollution, in particular. From the perspective of Finland, the biggest transboundary policy efforts this year were made with respect to biodiversity and climate change. In the area of biodiversity, the postponed second phase of the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held in Montreal in December. The main focus of COP-15 was to find an agreement on the common goals, objectives, and measures of countries to halt global biodiversity loss. Together with the European Union (EU), Finland aimed for concrete and quantitative global biodiversity targets. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 was adopted at the Conference. This includes targets to protect 30 percent of the world’s terrestrial and inland water and of coastal and marine areas and to restore at least 30 percent of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by 2030. The Finnish minister of the environment and climate change (MoE), Maria Ohisalo, compared these commitments to the role of the Paris Agreement in combatting the climate crisis. To ensure proper implementation of the agreed-on goals, Finland and the EU aimed for a strong monitoring mechanism to track the progress of actions taken under the agreement. To this end, a set of indicators common to all nations, to be supplemented nationally, was adopted at the COP. Parties also decided to establish a new fund under the Global Environment Facility to finance biodiversity measures. Finland stressed the need for funds from private sources to complement public funding for biodiversity protection. COP-27 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November. The main tangible outcome of the COP was the establishment of a new fund to assist parties in the face of damage caused by climate change. However, few other means to accelerate action to tackle climate change were produced. Finland, along with many other nations, was disappointed at the results: ‘The decisions made do not reflect the urgency of the need to reduce emissions,’ said Minister Ohisalo after the Conference. Finland and the EU advocated for stricter and faster emissions limitations from parties, but these did not receive sufficient support. On another note, Finland continued as the co-chair of the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, which met during COP-27. The meeting agenda included discussions on how to better integrate climate considerations into economic policy decision-making. This year was also important for the EU’s climate policy. The so-called Fit for 55 package—a set of policy proposals for the revision of existing EU legislation and new initiatives agreed upon in 2021—was under negotiation by the Council and the European Parliament this year. The parties reached an agreement, or provisional agreement, on several parts of the package, including on the revision of the EU emissions trading system, the Social Climate Fund, the carbon border adjustment mechanism, and the emissions reduction targets for member states. The EU saw a remarkable policy development in the field of biodiversity protection when the Commission adopted a proposal for a Nature Restoration Law in June. It is part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the first continent-wide law of its kind in the world. The proposal includes a number of targets to restore ecosystems, habitats, and species across the EU’s land and sea areas, and a system of National Restoration Plans and reporting for the member states. The UN Ocean Conference was held in Lisbon in June and July. The conference focused on ensuring sustainable management of the oceans and sought to mobilize action on, inter alia, acidification, marine litter and pollution, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and the loss of habitats and biodiversity. At the conference, Finland presented eleven new commitments to protect the oceans and seas. Ten of the commitments concerned the Baltic Sea and one the Red Sea. Overall, at the conference, Finland stressed the role of the blue bioeconomy and the importance of marine protection for the mitigation of climate change. The conference also served as preparation for the international negotiations on the protection of the high seas, biodiversity loss, and plastic pollution, conducted or started during 2022. The fifth session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction was held in New York in August and December. The session was unable to complete the negotiations; outstanding issues included, inter alia, the sharing of benefits and sources of funding. Finland supported an ambitious agreement text in the negotiations. The resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) took place in Nairobi in February and March. Participants at the meeting decided that UN member states will start negotiations on an international treaty on plastics. A global agreement on plastic pollution is a long-term priority for Finland. The main aims of Finland and the EU for the negotiations are that the new agreement would be legally binding, cover the whole lifecycle of plastics, and concern plastic pollution broadly, everywhere in the environment. At UNEA-5.2, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, was established, with the aim of completing the negotiations during 2024. The first session of the committee was held in November and December. The parties discussed, in particular, the scope and key substantive themes for the new agreement. The successful UNEA-5.2 meeting also saw many other important decisions, such as the decision to establish a science-policy panel for chemicals and waste and pollution prevention, and an agreement on a definition for nature-based solutions. UNEA-5.2. was followed by UNEP@50 celebrations to commemorate the United Nations Environment Programme’s fifty years. In addition to these global developments, Finland continued to be actively involved in environmental matters in regional fora such as the Arctic Council, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC), the Nordic Council of Ministers, and the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (Helsinki Commission or HELCOM). The Arctic Council (AC) is an inter-governmental forum whose members are the eight Arctic states: the United States, Russia, Canada, and the five Nordic countries. It also includes six international organizations representing indigenous Arctic peoples as Permanent Participants. The primary objective of the AC is to foster cooperation among its members and Permanent Participants on common Arctic issues, including, in particular, issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. The chairmanship of the AC rotates every two years among the Arctic States. From 2021 to 2023, the AC was to be chaired by the Russian Federation. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all official meetings of the AC and its subsidiary bodies have been on hold until further notice since March 2022. The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council are the main fora for official Nordic cooperation, which involves Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and the Åland Islands. The Nordic Council of Ministers is the forum for inter-governmental cooperation, while the Nordic Council is the forum for inter-parliamentary cooperation. Nordic cooperation focuses on themes in which a Nordic approach is viewed to generate additional value for the countries and peoples of the region. Environmental cooperation has been a core focus area for the Nordic countries and their cooperation for a long time. Finland chaired the Nordic Council this year. The theme of the year was ‘[a] socially and ecologically sustainable Nordic region,’ with the recognition that mitigating climate change, combating natural loss, and building a green Nordic region are among the most important tasks of Nordic cooperation. Illustrative of this, the Nordic countries had some coordination in their positions for the climate and biodiversity COPs this year. The environment and climate ministers discussed Nordic priorities and the possibilities of how Nordic cooperation can contribute to increased ambition levels at the COPs. In the run-up to COP-15 of the CBD, the Nordic Council of Ministers for the Environment and Climate adopted a Nordic Ministerial Declaration on nature-based solutions in November. The declaration highlights the importance of addressing the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis together, and focusing on solutions that benefit both the climate and biodiversity. The Nordic countries prepared for COP-15 of the CBD with a joint political message recorded in a ministerial declaration that outlined Nordic ambitions for the new biodiversity agreement, stressing measurable goals and clear requirements for implementation. In addition, the Nordic ministers made a commitment to action at a national level for securing biodiversity, whereby they agreed to ‘step up efforts for and to mainstream biodiversity in the Nordic region through sustainable consumption and production initiatives, reduced food and plastic waste, healthy oceans, nature-based solutions, financing biodiversity and promoting human livelihoods, including the traditional livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities.’ In preparation for COP-27 of the UNFCCC, the Nordic ministers adopted a joint statement whereby they confirmed that Nordic countries will continue their active engagement with international partners to advance the global climate agenda and will continue to be among the world’s foremost providers of climate finance. In the area of plastic pollution control, the Nordic countries sought leadership in the launched negotiations on an international treaty on plastics. To this effect, the Nordic ministers signed a joint letter to the director general of the United Nations Environment Programme underlining the Nordic region’s continued support for an ambitious agreement, in line with the ministerial declarations adopted on the subject in 2020 and 2021. Following this political commitment, and to support the negotiations on a plastic treaty, the Nordic countries financed a study to develop a high ambition scenario with near-zero plastic leakage into the environment by 2040. The report is intended to contribute to the knowledge base of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee as part of the work of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution—a group of like-minded countries, of which Finland is a member. The reduction of emissions from sea traffic has been another issue where the Nordic countries have been active recently. As a continuation to the Clydebank Declaration for Green Shipping Corridors, which was signed by the Nordic ministers at COP-26 of the UNFCCC in 2021, this year the Nordic Council of Ministers adopted a ministerial declaration on green shipping. Accordingly, the Nordic ministers agreed to the creation of green corridors for emission-free shipping between ports in the Nordic Region. Cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic Region takes place on two levels: the inter-governmental BEAC and the inter-regional Barents Regional Council (BRC). Finland is a party to the BEAC and its northernmost parts belong to the BRC. The other countries represented at both the BEAC and the BRC are Norway, Russia, and Sweden. The Councils have independent and joint thematic working groups. The overall objective of Barents cooperation is to promote sustainable development and enhance security in the region. Finland is an active participant in all the activities of the BEAC and the BRC and holds the chairmanship of the former for 2021–3 and the chairmanship of the BEAC working group on the environment for 2020–3. Through the latter, Finland aims to boost the transition into a carbon neutral circular economy, promote biodiversity protection, and find the means to reduce the use of black carbon. Since March, activities involving Russia in the Barents Euro-Arctic cooperation have been suspended due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. HELCOM is an inter-governmental organization established under the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and the European Union. HELCOM promotes the implementation of the Convention and gives recommendations to the state parties. All Baltic littoral states participate, together with the EU, in the work of HELCOM. In addition, a number of international organizations also participate in the work as observers. Since March 2023, all meetings of the official HELCOM bodies and meetings of project groups with Russian involvement under the HELCOM umbrella have been suspended due to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. At the national level, a significant step was the entry into force of the new Climate Act in July. It marked a reform of the Act that was originally introduced in 2015. Most significantly, the new Act includes, in its text, Finland’s national 2035 climate neutrality target and emission reduction targets for 2030, 2040, and 2050. In this way, the targets will also bind future governments. In addition, the scope of the Act was extended to also cover emissions from the land use sector with an objective to strengthen carbon sinks. Another new feature of the Act is the establishment of the Sámi Climate Council. It will be an independent body that supports the preparation of the climate change policy plans and gives opinions on them from the perspective of the Sámi people. The Climate Act is complemented by a separate amendment that will come into force on 1 March 2023. The amendment includes an obligation for municipalities to draw up climate plans, as well as provisions on request for review.

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