Environmental protection
Fridays for Finland
When Finland takes over the presidency of the EU this summer, climate policy will be at the top of the agenda. What if the country didn’t have this influence?
![Fridays for Finland Fridays for Finland © Illustration: Nina Haiko Fridays for Finland](/resources/files/gif20/fridays-for-finland-formatkey-gif-w320m.gif)
Even after the election, the climate crisis should be high on the Brussels agenda. Finland, which will take over the biannually changing EU Presidency on 1 July, wants to see to that. By 2050, the EU should be climate-neutral, and by 2030 it should have cut emissions by 55 percent compared with 1990 levels. Helsinki means to stand behind these goals.
“We Finns are considered credible; we’re trusted”, says Environment Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen. “We can make a difference in Europe as a driving force.” And, in fact, Finland is one of the pioneers of environmental and climate policy in Europe. In ecological rankings, the densely wooded northern European country regularly takes top positions.
We can make a difference in Europe as a driving force
These levers are important, as the climate debate in the EU shows. Two camps have formed. On one side are France, Finland and other northerners, who are campaigning for more ambitious climate protection; on the other side are Germany and Poland, who are resisting new mandatory goals.
Finland belongs to the camp of the “willing”, and it can try to strengthen this position with the help of the EU Presidency. At the same time, the climate savers and environmentalists in Helsinki will get backing from the EU Commission in Brussels, which monitors compliance with the agreed ecological standards. Without the EU, Finland would be on its own.