Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala (NCP) spoke at a press conference in Helsinki on Friday, 24 January 2025. Multala raised eyebrows by stressing the needs of the forest industry when asked about the measures required to strengthen the carbon sink of forests, the cornerstone of the national effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)
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SARI MULTALA, a 46-year-old third-term Member of Parliament from Uusimaa, has started in her new role as minister of climate and the environment by emphasising the needs of the forest industry.
Multala on Friday outlined at a press conference that the climate crisis and biodiversity loss are “fateful questions” for the planet that require “effective solutions”.
She acknowledged that measures to strengthen the carbon sink of forests – the cornerstone of the national effort so achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 – are required but declined to specify the nature of such measures. When asked about the need to scale back logging volumes – one of the primary causes of the shrinking carbon sink – she took the opportunity to emphasise the needs of the forest industry.
“The world’s climate can’t be saved by stopping logging in Finland,” she retorted.
Although Finnish environmental organisations have proposed that logging volumes be reduced to the levels of 2010 – from about 75 million to 60 million cubic metres – no expert body has called for a complete end to logging in Finland.
Multala also pointed out that the majority of forests are in private ownership. “Not all of the measures are in the hands of decision-makers. The government also has to make sure there’s wood available.”
Her remarks were described as “populist” and “sub-par” by Atte Harjanne, the chairperson of the Green Parliamentary Group, in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.
“No one has proposed that logging in Finland should be stopped or that Finland alone is responsible for saving the world. Such a populist and stupid proposal marks a failure to reach the bar on day one and does nothing at all to advance the discussion or decision-making on what is a difficult subject,” he lamented.
“The collapse of the carbon sink of forests is threatening Finland’s national and EU-level climate objectives. Researchers have warned that we could be faced with a billion-euro bill [if we fail to reach the objectives].”
Multala on Friday took over the duties of the minister of climate and the environment from Kai Mykkänen (NCP), who starts his work as the mayor of Espoo on 1 February.
She also took charge of finalising criteria for defining old-growth forests, criteria that will dictate the protection decisions made by the government. She reminded that the preparatory work is far along, indicating that she is not intent on relaxing the criteria despite the fact that basically no forests in the southern half of the country would meet the criteria proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Multala was also asked about the price corridor for nuclear power floated by her predecessor. She refrained from providing a direct answer, stating simply that the issue is being discussed and that the government shares a willingness to support nuclear power one way or another.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
