Achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) during this decade will require significant changes to the way the public and private sectors allocate their investments. It is estimated that approximately USD 2,500 billion more should be mobilised to sustainable development globally per year. This gap can be bridged, and Finnish stakeholders can contribute to the necessary solutions, both here and internationally.

The overall objective of the EU-funded Project “Developing Finland’s Sustainable Finance Ecosystems” is to contribute to increasing financing for ecosystems that provide solutions to the SDGs in Finland and globally, and in which Finland has strong expertise. It will strengthen the capability of businesses, including SMEs, to manage, measure and report their SDG impact in a credible and transparent manner. The project supports national authorities, beneficiary institutions, NGOs and other key stakeholders in deploying and harmonising sustainable finance practices that help allocate more private capital to sustainable investments.

Funding solutions sought through four pilot ecosystems

The project, launched in autumn 2020, is currently advancing through four finance ecosystem pilots with the aim to promote carbon neutral society, sustainable water solutions, equal education as well as sustainable and healthy food systems.

These themes represent areas with major national and international demand, and where Finland has competitive expertise. 

The Finnish sustainable finance ecosystem journey - building commitment and putting SDG finance into action.

Through the pilots the project will focus on how the public sector in Finland could speed up the necessary sustainability transformation and mobilise private investments, in particular for

• Offshore wind power in Finnish sea areas (theme: Carbon neutral society, responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment)
• Sustainable protein production and processing in Finland (theme: Sustainable and healthy food system, responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry)
• Climate-smart water solutions in developing countries and emerging markets (theme: Sustainable water solutions, responsibility of the Finnish Water Forum, FWF)
• Vocational education exports in developing countries and emerging markets (theme: Equal education, responsibility of the Finnish National Agency for Education, represented by Oppiva Invest)

Stakeholders can contribute to ideas on sustainable funding

The pilots aim to provide a platform for more permanent and increased mobilisation of SDG finance in Finland. Finland’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap (originally launched in 2019 and updated in 2021) also provides guidelines and recommendations for mainstreaming sustainable investments more comprehensively during this decade.  

The responsible bodies selected for coordinating the pilots will help ensure continuity and optimal linking with other relevant policy objectives and other ongoing SDG initiatives. During the coming months, stakeholders will be broadly invited to workshops to share their views and recommendations to help refine any needed sustainability changes in the Finnish finance ecosystems. Interested stakeholders may contact [email protected] and [email protected] for more information.

This project is funded by the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) and implemented by Gaia Consulting Oy, with the collaboration of AARC Ltd and Tri-nomics B.V and in cooperation with the European Commission and the Finnish Ministry of Eco-nomic Affairs and Employment.

The project was officially launched on 11 November 2020. More information on the project and the materials from the launch event are available on the Ministry’s website.

Eeva Alho, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
Mikko Halonen, Leading Consultant, Gaia Consulting Oy
Anna Laine, Senior Consultant, Gaia Consulting Oy