Foreign Ministry's meetings will be eco-friendly

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with WWF Finland have compiled guidelines for eco-friendly meetings. In future, all meetings to be organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will be eco-friendly. The missions abroad may apply the guidelines as applicable, considering the local circumstances.

The guidelines have been compiled by the Ministry's team responsible for Finland's Arctic Chairmanship and WWF Finland, and they were in use in all meetings of the Arctic Council during Finland's two-year Arctic Chairmanship.

"Catering professionals have welcomed the concept better than expected, but all of them have not yet managed to integrate the principles in all of their activities. We have received much positive feedback from our guests, too," says Annariina Kukkonen, Administrative Assistant responsible for coordination of Arctic meetings at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The guidelines are specifically designed for the contractor, in this case the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. They offer tips on how the contractor can make eco-friendly choices when selecting services or making purchases for meetings. Catering, procurement and transport arrangements are the most important entities where the contractor's choice can make a difference.

With these guidelines for eco-friendly meetings, it is easier to make responsible choices. Clear instructions are given, for example, on what ingredients should be preferred in catering and on how the process should be carried out to minimise waste, for instance.

When procuring materials, attention should be paid to their sustainable origin and life cycle, paying due regard to options for reuse afterwards.  Logistical arrangements should be planned so that meeting venues can be reached using public transport, for example, avoiding unnecessary procurement of chartered vehicles. 

Inquiries: Annariina Kukkonen, Administrative Assistance (coordination of meetings) Arctic Chairmanship team, tel. +358 50 596 2944, and Helka Julkunen, Head of Green Office Programme, WWF Finland, tel. +358 40 531 0555.

The Foreign Ministry’s email addresses are of the format [email protected]