The High North – Sustainable Development of the Top Mining Region of the World; Voksenåsen in cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassies of Finland, Sweden and Denmark in Oslo and the EU Delegation 25-26 November 2013.

Opening speech by the Ambassador of Finland Maimo Henriksson:

Ärade Statsråd, kanslichef, kära vänner,

Honoured Minister, Permanent Secretary, distinguished speakers, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

This series of High North conferences started some 4 years ago as a Swedish-Norwegian cooperation. A year later Finland was invited to join and after some time also the EU delegation was included in the group of organizers. This year also Denmark has participated in the preparation process. The key cooperation partners on the Norwegian side are the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Trade and Industry. This is now the fifth High North Conference focusing on industrial development in the north.

The first conferences concentrated on energy. The third one, "Where Gas Meets Ore", discussed both energy and minerals and above all the future transport needs. Last year the overall theme was mining. On the basis of feedback from last year's participants also this year mining has been chosen as the main theme. Today and tomorrow mining will be discussed from the view point of sustainability. The mining industry will be successful in the north only if it manages to develop in a sustainable manner. This is in fact a "live or die" issue for the mineral industry.

During recent travels in the North Calotte region I have again noticed  concretely how much there is going on. This is in fact the corner of Europe where huge investments take place today. We are talking about tens of billions of investments per year. One of the sectors where things are happening is the mineral sector. Sweden and Finland are forerunners, but now also Norway is restarting activities. The governments in Sweden, Finland and Norway have recently adopted mineral strategies. In Finland, which I know best, an ambitious special Green Mining program has started. Denmark including Greenland is activating itself in this field.

Globally the mining industry is gaining importance. This is a trend that will continue for many years onwards. There are several reasons to this. The population growth, the urbanization that currently is taking place and the increase in living standards are all factors, that lead to an increased demand for metals, minerals and stones. Buildings and technology require these products of the mining industry.

For Europe and its competitiveness the access to minerals is crucial. This is why the commission launched the Raw Materials Initiative in 2008. The aim of this initiative is to create a cohesive mineral policy for the EU.

A successful mineral policy must be environmentally sustainable. Here we in Europe and especially in northern Europe have a huge global responsibility. We must be the forerunners in creating sustainable mining know-how. What then are the elements of and what is the current discussion on sustainable mining in the European mining region, the High North? This will be the theme of our conference today and tomorrow.

Finally I want to thank all co-organizers: the embassies of Sweden and Denmark, the Norwegian ministries of Foreign Affairs, Environment and Trade and Industry and last but not least the fantastic Voksenåsen and its eminent co-ordinator Mikael Klingberg.

I wish you all an interesting conference!