Tytti Peltonen Metsä Group’s VP, Corporate Affairs, at the European Union, in Brussels.
For the first time, climate change and biodiversity have been made a priority on the EU’s agenda. Current and proposed amendments to legislation will also have a considerable impact on the forest industry. Lobbying for the forest industry I have worked as Metsä Group’s VP, Corporate Affairs, European Union in Brussels since 2013. It is my task to explain EU policymakers about the Finnish forest indus- try and its importance to our society. EU lobbying calls for long-term efforts. European pol- icymakers and legislators are not all that knowledgeable about Nordic coniferous forests and the advantages of recyclable wood-based products. It is our job to explain to what Nordic forestry is really about, what sustainable forest management means and what Nordic wood is used for. At the EU level, Metsä Fibre’s Äänekoski bioproduct mill has been used as a prime example of how an industrial business ecosys- tem works in practice. The EU has seen exceptional times in 2021. Europe has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as floods and heatwaves. Climate change mitigation and the pro- motion of biodiversity have become the main goals of the European Green Deal, which is a good thing. The aim is to make Europe climate neutral by 2050 and stop biodiversity loss. These efforts will be boosted by amend- ing a huge amount of legislation. In July 2021, the European Commission presented its extensive ‘Fit for 55’ package of climate and ener- gy measures, as well as the new EU forest strategy. The goal of the legislative package is to ensure a 55 per cent
reduction in the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions com- pared to 1990. In turn, the forest strategy promotes collaboration among EU Member States in forest matters. It strives to coordinate the climate benefits of wood-based prod- ucts, different forms of commercial forest utilisation, forest protection and the role of forests as carbon sinks. The Commission is also preparing a classification sys- tem (taxonomy) for sustainable financing to help the EU and investors decide how to channel green money. The forest strategy, the legislative initiatives and the taxono- my for financing will have a major impact on for example the Finnish forest industry and our business activities. Future regulation should take into account the key role that forests and wood-based products have in mit- igating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity. However, discussions on forest use are very polarised, which is unfortunate. Moreover, regulation should secure the global com- petitiveness of European companies. It is in no one’s in- terests to use Nordic forests only as the EU’s joint carbon sink to help compensate for other countries’ emissions. In addition to providing global climate benefits, the for- est sector finances societal activities and creates jobs. It is our main task to explain that forests are not the problem but the solution. •
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