Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU from the perspective of the Embassy – what we did during the fall in terms of our Presidency priorities

Finland’s Presidency will end at the end of this year as Croatia presides the role of the Presidency for the following six months of 2020. Before turning the page and looking for the upcoming New Year, it is time to reflect on our Presidency and take a look at what we achieved at the Embassy during the fall.

Overall Finland’s Presidency received a lot of attention in Polish media. During our Presidency, the Embassy highlighted several issues important to Finland such as climate change, sustainable development and circular economy.

The Embassy followed sustainable meeting arrangements in all of its events. Food was primarily made from local ingredients and special attention was given to offering vegetarian dishes. We also wanted to limit the amount of litter generated in organizing meetings. Therefore, we avoided the use of paper and plastics and used digital material instead. Finland received a lot of positive feedback from its decision not to hand out traditional Presidency gifts. Instead, the money earmarked for the gifts was used to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

During the fall, Embassy took part in various events. For example, Embassy organized an event during the Polish Circular week that focused on Circular Economy, financing and various substitutes to plastics (see for more information). The Embassy also facilitated a seminar (Link to another website.)with ODIHR focusing on promoting women’s political participation and leadership.

Embassy’s employees were committed to the sustainability principles. At the beginning of our Presidency, Embassy launched a #climatepledge(Link to another website.) social media campaign. Embassy’s employees pledged to increase bicycle commuting(Link to another website.) and dedicated every Wednesday for vegetarian food (aka. #veggiewednesdays(Link to another website.)). Embassy challenged other Embassies in Warsaw to join the campaign.

The Presidency was an opportunity for the Embassy to highlight the issues that matter not only for us Finns but also to all of us. We will continue next year with the Climate pledge campaign so stay tuned and join us in Facebook(Link to another website.), Twitter (Link to another website.)and Instagram (Link to another website.)for more information.