Finland in good capacity to implement the Programme of Actions agreed on at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
Further concrete actions must, however, be taken
WWF Finland, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development arrange today the seminar The Role of Finland in Promoting Sustainable Development. The seminar will examine how Finland has started the implementation of the programme of the World Summit on Sustainable Development organised in Johannesburg one year ago. One of the biggest challenges is to disconnect economic growth from the accelerating consumption of natural resources. The seminar also challenges industry and commerce in Finland to take the leading responsibility to follow up the achieving of objectives next year.
The organisers of the seminar emphasise that the Nordic participative and open decision-making model forms a good basis for promoting sustainable development. The whole political field in Finland has committed itself to promoting sustainable development: the chairman of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development is the prime minister, and six other ministers are members. The commission consists of representatives of the government, authorities, industry and commerce, the church, organisations of citizens, and the trade union movement. The five-year programme of the commission (2003-2007) is composed of nine sectors with a clear schedule for implementation, including sectors such as sustainable traffic solutions, sustainable production and consumption, as well as social responsibility of companies, regional cooperation between the states in the Baltic Sea area, the welfare of people, and the biodiversity of nature.
It is imperative, however, to take further concrete actions. From a global aspect, the ecological footprint that illustrates the consumption of renewable natural resources in relation to their power of regeneration has, for example, already since the 1970s exceeded the power of regeneration of the renewable natural resources in the world. The ecological footprint is still continuing to grow. Calculated per person, the ecological footprint is considerably larger in the prosperous countries than elsewhere. In Finland, the total consumption of natural resources per capita is one of the highest in the world, and the growth does not seem to show any signs of abatement. The organisers wish to stress the fact that one of the biggest challenges sustainable development is facing is to disconnect economic growth from the accelerating consumption of natural resources.
The organisers look forward to more active participation of industry and commerce in social discussion and decision-making in promoting sustainable development. The seminar of 2003 was initiated by civic society, in other words, by WWF Finland, but it is hoped that next year industry and commerce will take over the responsibility.
Activity is expected from companies and, for instance, the field of research with regard to the new kind of co-operative model, which was agreed on in Johannesburg, i.e. partnership projects, between industrial and developing countries. The objective is that the traditional development aid performed by states will be joined by new implementers and methods so that companies or communities join common development endeavours with regard to production in developing countries according to the principles of sustainable development. Partnership in sustainable development can refer to local commitments such as cooperation on the development of information networks, for example, between universities, and cooperation in the field of energy, for instance, on the search for sustainable energy forms and renewable energy alternatives as well as experimentation.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg brought together heads of state to one of the largest summits of the UN to decide on the principles of sustainable development. The summit witnessed the agreement on nearly 30 scheduled objectives from that of ending poverty to the objective of managing water, sanitation and decent dwelling for the majority of the population currently living without basic subsistence.
The seminar on sustainable development will take place in Helsinki this afternoon. The speakers are the President of the Republic, Tarja Halonen; CEO and Chairman of the Board of Nokia Corporation, Jorma Ollila; Senior Executive Vice President, Deputy CEO at UPM-Kymmene, Martin Granholm; Secretary General of the Finnish Consumers’ Association, Sinikka Turunen; and the Secretary General of WWF Finland, Timo Tanninen. The Nordic Partnership organisation, which is a Nordic network of companies that promote sustainable development, has participated in the organising of the seminar as well.
Further information:
WWF Finland, Secretary General Timo Tanninen, mobile +358 40 574 9266
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Head of Unit Kari Karanko, mobile +358 40 837 8562
The Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development, Secretary General Sauli Rouhinen, mobile +358 50 565 8394
Addresses:
President Halonen: Implementing the Johannesburg commitments
Jorma Ollila(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Life goes mobile - threat or opportunity for sustainable development
Martin Granholm: UPM-Kymmene's path towards sustainable development
Sinikka Turunen: Consumers as a driving force for sustainable development
Timo Tanninen
: Sustainable development - a challenging necessity