We are publishing writings on our website from the essay collection Vision 2040 – When Finland Acted Boldly and Without Prejudice. Suvi Haimi, the co-founder of Sulapac, envisions that Finland can become a leader in sustainable development if action is taken immediately.
By 2040, it is possible for Finland to be an innovative, ecologically and socially responsible country, enabling a good life for everyone residing in or moving to Finland, within the Earth’s capacity for sustainability. This requires radical actions both domestically and internationally, as continuing with the current incremental pace of change and failing to make necessary investments and legislative adjustments towards carbon neutrality and biodiversity protection would lead to devastating consequences from exceeding the Earth’s capacity.
Species are going extinct hundreds of times faster than the average over the last ten million years. If the Earth’s temperature rises by another 3 degrees due to fossil fuel use or if plastic pollution and chemical burden on our environment are not significantly reduced, it will lead to the collapse of the current ecosystem. Actions towards the 2040 vision must start from today to halt global warming and the accumulation of plastic waste and harmful chemicals in the environment.
Key actions include: 1) accelerating the transition of energy production to zero emissions, 2) favoring bio-based, environmentally and human-safe, and efficiently recyclable materials, and 3) promoting sustainably produced food and consumer goods made without fossil raw materials and in a way that does not cause chemical burden to the environment. The most important measure to advance points 1) and 2) is to impose a tax on fossil-based energy and raw materials like oil. A good start towards these goals is the preparation of the current government’s €400 million industrial investment support program, aimed at advancing green transition and producing high-value industrial solutions.
If we take action in Finland now, we will have halted the loss of natural forests by 2040, will use our forests sustainably, and will be a global leader in sustainable development. This is based on recognizing the true value of virgin raw materials, natural resources, and forest carbon sinks, as driven by new EU regulations. Finland lacks several natural resources needed for the clean energy transition. Finland has addressed this issue by investing in international relations and ensuring the availability of critical raw materials.
By 2040, the technological revolution through artificial intelligence and digitalization will have occurred across various industrial sectors. The digitalization of all product categories, combined with mandatory transparency of raw materials and supply chains to consumers based on the European Parliament and Council’s regulation on ecological design requirements for sustainable products (ESPR), has enabled more effective support for sustainable development products since 2024. Finland accelerated the implementation of this legislation by particularly assisting SMEs with digitalization. Additionally, national targets were set for products with a lower carbon footprint that do not cause chemical or microplastic pollution. These measures helped Finland achieve its carbon neutrality goals ahead of schedule and created new sustainable development business opportunities.
The EU’s forthcoming regulation on carbon removals certification framework (CRCF) provided a basis for companies to offset their carbon emissions as sustainably as possible. The carbon credit model based on this certification framework was made mandatory for all companies and product categories under national law. Combined with strong taxation of fossil-based raw materials, this enabled Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality goals significantly ahead of current targets.
From 2025, the Finnish government introduced criteria for decision-making aimed at preserving biodiversity and achieving carbon neutrality, in collaboration with companies and the financial sector. The government, businesses, and financiers clearly recognized that promoting sustainable development and creating long-term value are interconnected, with no pursuit of quick profits or fossil-based business activities anticipated in 2040.
Finland’s role as a pioneer in sustainable development also involved financial investment in bioeconomy innovations, recycling system reforms, and the implementation of digitalization and artificial intelligence. Already in the 2023 government program, separate collection was required for bio-based and biodegradable materials, and recycling criteria equivalent to those for plastics were established according to the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). This accelerated the transformation of recycling facilities, allowing collected plastic waste to be processed into several higher-value bio-based and other plastic streams instead of the current three qualities, utilizing chemical recycling technologies rather than inefficient mechanical recycling. Additionally, microplastic pollution was brought under extended producer responsibility (EPR), further encouraging companies to switch from oil-based plastics to bio-based and biodegradable materials.
In 2026, significant targets were also set for the use of bio-based materials across various product categories. Besides being bio-based, the criteria required that the material be chemically recyclable and not leave behind permanent microplastics or harmful chemical compounds. ESPR and PPWR laid the foundation for this national legislation. The targets in Finland were set more ambitiously than the EU’s minimum requirements, as Finland sought to gain a global edge in solving the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Through these actions, by 2040, Finnish companies used very minimal amounts of fossil-based raw materials in packaging, consumer goods, and many other products.
By 2040, Sulapac, along with several other Finnish companies producing bio-based materials, had achieved a significant global market share as alternatives to fossil-based plastics. These effectively recyclable material innovations had greatly reduced plastic pollution and its associated chemical burden since 2024, and halted its contribution to biodiversity loss. Global warming had also slowed significantly, as oil was no longer used annually to produce 460 million tons of fossil-based plastics (current situation).
Suvi Haimi, Sulapac
(Picture: Vision 2040 launch event 19.8.2024.)