Minister Tavio to highlight Finnish expertise at COP28 in Dubai

Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio will visit Dubai in the United Arab Emirates 2–4 December. Minister Tavio will attend events organised as part of the UN Climate Change Conference and meet ministers from other countries and representatives of businesses and international organisations.

The 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will bring together tens of thousands of people, maybe as many as 70,000 this year. They will take part in climate negotiations or in discussions on the effects and challenges of climate change and the economic opportunities created by the clean energy transition.

Minister Tavio sees the visit to Dubai as an opportunity to take part in international discussions on sustainable trade and the clean transition. It is also a chance to highlight Finland’s strengths: “This is an opportunity to showcase to the world Finland’s innovative and responsible solutions and expertise that bolster the competitiveness of companies.”

Finland will host its first ever pavilion at the UN Climate Change Conference. The COP28 Finland Pavilion project, headed by Business Finland, was the initiative of the Climate Leadership Coalition (CLC), Finland Chamber of Commerce and the Confederation of Finnish Industries. Events at the Finland Pavilion are organised together with Finnish companies, research institutes and third-sector operators.

At the Finland Pavilion, Minister Tavio will participate in a panel, organised by Nokia, to discuss the clean transition, digitalisation and critical minerals and hold a keynote speech at an event of the Confederation of Finnish Industries on the role of international trade in climate action. Tavio will open a side event on women, peace and climate security, which is co-organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and UN Women, and an event organised together with the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the Finnish Red Cross. The latter event aims to display Finland’s work to help developing countries improve their meteorological services and build early warning systems for extreme weather events.

The importance of leveraging private sector expertise and finance to promote sustainable development will be emphasised during Minister Tavio’s visit to Dubai. Tavio will attend the launch of a Nordic and US joint initiative on mobilising billions of private climate finance to emerging and developing markets. Tavio will also give opening addresses at the events of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). Both events aim to promote the channelling of private capital to efforts to adapt to extreme weather events. “Getting the private sector involved is a key to achieving the international goals,” Minister Tavio says. 

The Minister’s programme also includes discussions with ministers from other countries and with representatives of business and industry and international organisations supported by Finland. COP28 offers a host of opportunities for dialogue with Finland’s key partners around the Minister’s two areas of responsibility.