The Finnish National Commission on
Sustainable Development (FNCSD)
Suomen kestävän kehityksen toimikunta
 |
Ympäristöministeriö |
Current and Future Activities
Present and Future Priority Fields
The FNCSD workplan for the period 2003-2007 contains among others the following themes:
- trade, development and poverty (autumn 2003);
- climate change (autumn 2003);
- sustainable transport and mobility (spring 2004);
- corporate social responsibility (spring 2004);
- ecological tax reform (autumn 2004);
- reducing eutrophication of the Baltic Sea (autumn 2004);
- sustainable welfare from diverse forests (spring 2005)
- biodiversity (spring 2005);
- national sustainable development strategy (autumn 2005);
- sustainable regional development (autumn 2005);
- education on sustainable development (spring 2006);
- human welfare, human impact assessment (spring 2006).
Background and Mission
Establishment
Founded in 1993 by Government decree. Some restructuring has taken place over the years, the most recent changes in summer 2003 after the parliamentary election and the formation of a new Government.
Mission
The Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development co-ordinates, promotes and evaluates the implementation of sustainable development in Finland, and acts as a political multi-stakeholder forum for discussion on international and national sustainable development issues and best practices.
Council Members
FNCSD has 44 members + 37 deputy members who alternate with the regular members. The Commission is chaired by the Prime Minister Mr. Matti Vanhanen and co-chaired by the Minister of the Environment Mr.Jan-Erik Enestam. Also four other ministers, three members of the parliament and 12 representatives of the ministries are members of the Commission. Other members of the Commission represent all sectors of the Finnish society, i.e. the Parliament, public administration including local authorities, business and industry, labour unions, NGOs, interest groups representing different sectors of society and the media. Finland's two official languages (Finnish and Swedish) have also been taken into account in the representation as well as the Finnish indigenous people (the Sámi).
| Chairman: | Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen |
| Vice Chairman: | Minister of the Environment Jan-Erik Enestam |
| MEMBERS: | |
| Ministers: | |
| Erkki Tuomioja | Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| Paula Lehtomäki | Minister for Foreign Trade and Development |
| Tarja Filatov | Minister of Labour |
| Sinikka Mönkäre | Minister, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health |
| Juha Korkeaoja | Minister of Agriculture and Forestry |
| Ministries: | |
| Ministry for Foreign Affairs | |
| Ministry of Justice | |
| Ministry of the Interior | |
| Ministry of Defence | |
| Ministry of Finance | |
| Ministry of Education | |
| Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry | |
| Ministry of Transport and Communications | |
| Ministry of Trade and Industry | |
| Ministry of Social Affairs and Health | |
| Ministry of Employment | |
| Ministry of the Environment | |
| Members of the Parliament: | |
| Maija Perho | |
| Susanna Haapoja | |
| Jutta Urpilainen | |
| Local government: | |
| Association of Finnish Local Authorities | |
| Business and productive sector: | |
| Confederation of Finnish Industries and Employers | |
| Federation of Finnish Commerce and Trade | |
| Finnish Forest Industries Federation | |
| Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners | |
| Federation of Finnish Enterprises | |
| Interest groups and Non-governmental organizations: | |
| Central Organization for Finnish Trade Unions | |
| Confederation of Unions for Academic Professionals in Finland | |
| Finnish Confederation of Salaried Employees | |
| Trade Union of Education in Finland | |
| Finnish Consumers' Association | |
| Service Centre for Development Cooperation | |
| Finnish Youth Cooperation Allianssi | |
| Finnish Committee for UNICEF | |
| Finnish Association for Nature Conservation | |
| WWF Finland | |
| Friends of the Earth Finland | |
| Finnish Women's Organizations | |
| Other: | |
| Åland Provincial Government | |
| Sami Parliament | (the parliament of the indigenous Sami people) |
| Association of Environmental Journalists | |
| The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | |
Staff members
The FNCSD has an operational inter-ministerial network secretariat to prepare the work for the Commission. It consists of about 30 civil servants from relevant ministries and other government organizations. This secretariat assists the full-time staff at the Ministry of the Environment, i.e. the Secretary-General, Mr. Sauli Rouhinen and the Secretary of the Commission, Ms. Annika Lindblom.
Work style
Tasks of the Council
The Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development co-ordinates, promotes and evaluates the implementation of sustainable development in Finland, and acts as a political multi-stakeholder forum for discussion on international and national sustainable development issues and best practices.
The inter-ministerial Secretariat of the FNCSD takes the lead in preparing the special themes of the FNCSD meetings as well as in preparing and submitting Finland's national sustainable development reports to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD).
Substructure and Working Groups
The FNCSD can establish working groups and subcommittees as considered appropriate. A subcommittee on education for sustainable development was established at the meeting of the FNCSD in June 2004.
Type of Advice
The meetings of the FNCSD are based on a work plan (2003-2007) covering themes highlighted in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and in the national evaluation report on sustainable development in Finland (2003). As a result of the thematic discussions in the meetings, the FNCSD does not provide any formal or binding advice but rather draws up trends and fresh prospects on sustainable development. The high-level political composition of the FNCSD guarantees that the themes and conclusions gain maximum publicity and are taken into consideration widely in the society.
Council Meetings
The FNCSD convenes four times a year and the meetings usually last for two hours.
Activities in the EEAC Network
The FNCSD is a current participant of the EEAC Sustainable Development Working Group.
List of Publications Available in English
FNSCD (2005): Finland's sustainable development indicators, a leaflet;
FNSCD (2004-2005) Making it Happen – Best Practices from Finland, a folder prepared and published mainly for UNCSD-process;
FNSCD (2003): Evaluation of Sustainable Development - Summary;
FNCSD (2002): Case Finland - Sustainability with Sisu, brochure on Finnish SD;
FNCSD (2002): The Finnish National Partnership Programme on Sustainable Development, brochure;
PPT-presentation in English: Sustainable development indicators for Finland, updated in 2002;
Signs of sustainability. Finland's indicators for sustainable development
2000.
Ministry of the Environment: The Finnish Environment No. 404 (2000) - ISBN
952-11-0714-6, ISSN 1238-7312.
FNCSD (1998): Finnish Government Programme for Sustainable Development;
The aforemetioned publications are available at www.environment.fi
Copyright © 2000-2007 by European
Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Councils, Den Haag. All Rights Reserved.
Last update: 14 March 2005