Madame Prime Minister Solberg

Mr. Prime Minister Hammond

Ministers

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Each year The Fund for Peace publishes the Index of Failed States. In its listing of 178 countries Finland is rated the ”least failed state” in the world. All five Nordic countries are among the eight least failed, with Iceland as number eight. Recalling the serious crisis which Iceland went through only a few years ago this is a powerful testimony to the resilience and strength of our Nordic Model of society.

Indeed, our consistently strong showings in these comparisons measuring our performance in education, innovation, competitiveness, the environment, social cohesion, equality and quality of life in general has been notes by the world at large. It is no wonder, therefore, that there is more and more interest in the so called Nordic Model.

Our social innovations have contributed to the high levels of overall well-being in the Nordic countries as is evident in for example an active employment policy, a social insurance system, freedom of movement, family policy and a bold redistribution policy. Perhaps most of all, the Nordic countries are known for their relative equality, and not least with respect to gender issues. Non-discrimination and the inclusion of all groups in the workings of society is an enormous asset which contributes to our wellbeing and enhances the vital perception of social justice, trust and systemic legitimacy.

The Nordic model has shown that not only can international competitiveness and a well-functioning welfare system based on universal benefits and public services be successfully combined, but they need to be combined in order to develop society in a sustainable way. We know both from our experience as well as from extensive comparative research that an equal distribution of income is a recipe for better and more prosperous and secure societies for all.

Our competitiveness is in many ways based on inclusion and social justice, a high level of education for all, and a stable and reliable democratic system. It is important to keep everybody on-board, active and participating. When the proportion of marginalized people exceeds a certain threshold, there is a risk that the system becomes dysfunctional. We cannot afford social exclusion, neither from an economic nor a moral point of view.

But all our relative success notwithstanding, we must not be complacent about our achievements. We cannot take them for granted in the future unless we are ready to continuously adjust and develop our model in answer to the challenges we are facing. In other words, we need to continue our tradition of successful piecemeal social engineering.

The challenges we face include the ageing of our populations. As people live longer the demand for different social and health services will increase while the share of our working-age population decreases. Irrespective of how pension systems are funded it is always those at work who ultimately pay for the pensions and services for those not at work, and thus we need to maintain and increase our levels of employment. Any failures in this respect will fuel xenophobia and populist nationalism.

As important and challenging all of this and many other issues are, they pale in comparison with the necessity for the world as whole to achieve sustainable development.

27 years ago the World Commission on Environment and Development led by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland defined sustainable development as ”development which meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The concept supports strong economic and social development, in particular for people with a low standard of living. At the same time it underlines the importance of protecting the natural resource base and the environment. Economic and social well-being cannot be improved with measures that destroy the environment. Intergenerational solidarity is also crucial: all development has to take into account its impact on the opportunities for future generations.

We have been, however, too slow in responding to this challenge. This means that we may have, at best, only a few decades time to reach ecologically, socially and economically sustainable development. And while climate change is of course the biggest challenge, there are also others, such as the accelerating loss of biodiversity, which needs to be brought under control to make sustainable development a reality.

Thus addressing the challenge of sustainable development will be the crucial litmus test for the success or failure of the Nordic model.  And here in the high north we will be closely observed and judged on how well our model works in addressing the challenges and opportunities we are facing in the Arctic.

The Arctic Council is taking sustainable development seriously. Indeed the main impetus for establishing the Council came from environmental concerns.

The main work of the Council is carried out in six permanent working groups. The Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG), established just two years after the Council itself, focuses on the human dimension in the Arctic. The guiding tenet running throughout the work of the working group is to pursue initiatives that provide practical knowledge and contribute to building the capacity of indigenous peoples and Arctic communities to respond to the challenges and benefit from the opportunities emerging in the Arctic region. As an example, the SDWG has been able to broaden the scope and strengthen the integration of human health activities within the Council by developing concrete initiatives to improve the health and well-being of indigenous peoples and other Arctic residents.

We welcome the fact that Canada as the incumbent Chair of the Arctic Council has highlighted the development of the people of the North in her Chairmanship programme. We share the Canadian emphasis on responsible Arctic resource development, safe Arctic shipping and sustainable circumpolar communities.

Climate change poses a serious immediate risk to biodiversity. Special attention must be paid to the vulnerability of the natural environment and the need to foresee developments threatening biodiversity. Closely linked to biodiversity is the preservation of the traditional knowledge possessed by the indigenous peoples. The network of conservation areas in the Arctic region, particularly in the sea areas surrounding the North Pole, must be developed both in order to promote nature preservation and to clarify the framework for economic activity.

The first international agreement drafted under the auspices of the Council was our agreement on cooperation in cases of oils spills or other accidents. Important as this is, it is even more important to see to it that the international treaty framework is comprehensive and strong enough to prevent such catastrophes from occurring in the first place. The international law of the sea is a good basis that all our Arctic countries respect, even if the treaty is still to be ratified by the US. Finland is also examing the need and possibilities for new international agreements in the Arctic.

This year’s Arctic Frontiers Conference with the theme of the Conference – “Humans in the Arctic” – is an excellent Forum to address these questions. While the Nordic welfare model is the basis for social structure of the five Nordic countries, we need to pay special attention to the situation in the northern regions of our countries, if we truly want to develop stronger northern societies.

In this respect I would like to draw your attention to Finland’s new Arctic Strategy adopted last year and presented to the Finnish parliament.

The Arctic Strategy in relation to Finland’s Arctic population focuses on social sustainability, a well-functioning society and working conditions. It emphasizes the welfare of the people living in Finland’s northern parts. Welfare encompasses mental and material well-being, access to work, efficient basic services, equality, security and education. A thriving local population contributes to economic stability and enhances competitiveness, as well. Finnish Lapland boasts an efficient infrastructure, and the international developments described in the Strategy offer bright prospects for the local economy. This again creates favourable conditions for securing a high quality of life for the people living in the northern environment.

The Saami are part of the local population in Lapland. They are the only indigenous people in the European Union and the status of the Saami in Finland is guaranteed by our Constitution. Finland is committed to further reinforcing the position of the Saami language and culture, and securing the availability of services in the Saami language. At the international level, Finland seeks to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples when issues affecting their status are addressed. It is important to assure that the organizations of the indigenous peoples represented in the Arctic Council are able to participate in the work of the Council at all levels.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council are important instruments in Arctic co-operation. The “People First” approach in the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Arctic Co-operation Programme for 2012–2014 is designed to promote sustainable development. The basic objective of the programme is to support processes, projects and initiatives that will help promote sustainable development and benefit the people of the Arctic under the conditions generated by globalisation and climate change.

About one million one hundred and sixty thousand (1 160 000) people live in the Arctic regions of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The populations of Iceland, Greenland and the Färoe Islands constitute some four hundred thirty thousand (430 000) people more. All of these people live in a region where the global warming is twice as rapid as in other parts of the world. Life in Lapland of Norway, Sweden and Finland is furthermore complicated by long distances, ageing population, labour market issues and in some cased also by inadequate resources for providing government services.

Finland shares with its neighbours the ambition to secure a good quality of life for all our Northern peoples. So what does a good life in the Arctic call for? Basically the same as in other parts of our countries: access to education and work, efficient basic services, equality and security. Our young people should have the possibility to study close to home and also have the opportunity to study abroad as well. It is also important to promote the mobility of labour in the Arctic region. The Nordic Mining School, jointly launched by the Universities of Oulu and Luleå, is a good example of how the efforts to respond to the challenges of the future labour market should begin already in education.

In the Arctic regions we have to understand and act on the necessity to reconcile traditional livelihoods with the modern industrial exploitation of natural resources. For example, reindeer husbandry is of deep-seated social and cultural significance while at the same being a source of income. For the Saami, reindeer husbandry is an integral part of the indigenous language and culture.

Concerning the sustainable use of renewable natural resources in the Arctic region there are a number of ways to accomplish this ranging from the gathering and use of natural resources to the forest industry and bioenergy production. In addition to projects of major economic importance, small-scale, nature-based businesses, crafts and local food production are important in shaping local identities and diversifying the range of local livelihoods. Additionally, the importance of solutions using local, renewable wood materials is highlighted in energy production. Natural resources are also important in terms of well-being and recreation. Favourable operating conditions need to be secured for the game and fishery industries as well as for the preservation and survival of Arctic species.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Arctic region is undergoing a number of rapid and also conflicting developments. The Arctic areas are witnessing the effects of climate change more dramatically than any other part of the world; new transport routes are opening up; energy resources and minerals are being exploited; and tourism is on the increase. For the security of the Arctic region combating climate change and mitigating its impact are vital.

I am convinced that we will be able to meet the challenges in an open, active and innovative manner and find positive solutions where economic efficiency, welfare, equity and equality are not seen as contradictory but as complementary and mutually reinforcing factors. This is the way to build strong northern societies.

Your excellencies, Dear students of Diplomatic Academy, Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to have this time to share with you thoughts about sustainable development and objectives of the Post-2015 agenda. I see multilateral cooperation of utmost importance when we are facing global challenges, such as poverty, inequality and environmental threats. As we have a group of current and future diplomats before us, I consider this a great opportunity to develop common understanding and set goals to face these challenges.

I will start by a short history brief on the multilateral process of promoting sustainable development. After that I will focus on the post-2015 agenda and the current situation we are facing. I will end by giving some examples of solutions that multilateral and bilateral cooperation can present.

Dear audience,

The concept of Sustainable Development stems back from the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development where it was defined as ”development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It contains within it two key concepts:

(1)     the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and

(2)     the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs. Solidarity between generations is a particularly important principle. All development needs to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable in order to make that solidarity a reality.

Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992, there have been many important UN conferences over the years addressing sustainable development.

Speaking on behalf of my Government at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, I stressed that ”with climate change, the accelerating loss of biodiversity and current other changes, we may, at best, have only a few decades time to reach ecologically, socially and economically sustainable development. No-one can be certain that we can do this, or even if it is possible at all. We need a strong sense of urgency to be able to correctly address our agenda.”

Many considered that the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference lacked ambition. However, in the last one and a half years, significant progress has been made in a number of areas where decisions were made in Rio.

In particular, I would like to highlight the process towards agreeing on Sustainable Development Goals – the Post-2015 Agenda – by 2015. An Open Working Group in New York has been established to debate these goals and it is expected to provide a report by August 2014 followed by an intergovernmental negotiation process.

At the same time, while heading for the new universal goals, we need to do our utmost to conclude the unfinished work on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Although a lot still remains to be done, I congratulate Peru for the great results in reducing poverty rates in to half of the 2000 level. Additionally infant mortality and extreme poverty has reduced and now 96 % of the population has access to basic education. You show an excellent example.

Poverty may and will hinder any other development process and development will decelerate if poverty is not tackled. Therefore poverty eradication and sustainable development must be placed at the core of the new post-2015 development agenda. They are strongly interlinked. Poverty can only be eradicated within the context of sustainable development.

Another common denominator to guide the future agenda should be the focus on reducing inequalities. In today’s world, we all face the challenge of increasing inequalities both within our national boarders and between our countries. Empowering women and girls is crucial. In addition, special attention needs to be paid to children and vulnerable and marginalized groups, such as persons with disabilities and ethnic and linguistic minorities. No one should be left behind. This was well presented by your president Ollanta Humala in United Nation’s General Assembly last September. The idea that social inclusion is the best guarantee for sustainable economic growth is something that resonates well with the Finnish society. Ever since the Second World War we have worked hard in guaranteeing all our citizens the same opportunities to study, work and lead a healthy life. These policies have resulted in rapid industrialization and the development of an innovation society which is better equipped to face the shocks of an uncertain global economy.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As declared at Rio+20, the new development goals should be transformational and address the multiple and intertwined challenges of ensuring environmental sustainability, eradicating extreme poverty, and achieving economic and social wellbeing. This calls for a true integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development into the new goals. In addition, peace and security, human rights and good governance need to be seen as prerequisites for sustainable development.

The new goals should be universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development. This means that there would be goals for the developed countries, as well. This kind of goals and/or targets could be related, for instance, to environment or reduction of inequalities.

When defining new goals, it is crucial to consider the planetary boundaries of the Earth. All growth and development must respect planetary boundaries. In this respect, the mandate from Rio+20 to strengthen international environmental governance and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) is of great importance. The new universal UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) – meeting for the first time next June – is the leading environmental authority to set the global environment agenda and promote coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the UN system.

Advancing green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication is an interesting and important avenue to address the multiple challenges of sustainable development. The Government of Finland has launched several green economy related political strategies and programmes on sustainable consumption and production, bio-economy and clean technology, to name just a few. In order to achieve sustainable development, it will have to come alive at the level of individuals – through work and everyday living. In this respect, shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns is instrumental. Developed countries should Iead by example.

In Finland, we have prepared our national Society’s Commitment to Sustainable Development titled “Finland We Want 2050” within wide participation from all levels of society. The vision in the commitment is “a prosperous Finland within the limits of the carrying capacity of nature.” The commitment includes eight shared objectives and indicators to measure progress. In order for the commitment to be effective, it calls for the public sector, private sector, civil society and all entities to make their own commitments on how they will promote sustainable development in their work. This is an example of a whole society joining its forces for a common goal – cooperation on a national level.

On the global level, Finland’s development policies aim at promoting an inclusive green economy which will strengthen human well-being, social equality and social sustainability. The green economy we want to promote is low-carbon, resource-efficient, socially inclusive and creates responsible entrepreneurial activity and decent work and well-being for all.

In this respect, I would like to underline the importance of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes that was adopted at the Rio+20 Summit aiming at accelerating the shift towards sustainable consumption and production patterns in all countries by supporting regional and national policies and initiatives. It is a true global partnership in capacity building and facilitating access to financial and technological solutions for developing countries.

In addition, my Government is financing the initiative called Partnership for Action on Green Economy. This PAGE initiative of UNEP, ILO, UNIDO and UNITAR supports 30 countries over the next seven years in building national green economy strategies. Peru is one of the first countries where PAGE initiative will help developing national green economy policies. I have been informed by UNEP that the official launch of PAGE in Peru is expected in March this year.

Finland is also financing regional initiatives in the Andean region on forestry, meteorology, and renewable energy that provide good opportunities for collaboration both with the PAGE initiative and bilaterally.

Dear friends,

When discussing and analyzing what the new agenda should look like, we also need to think about how we can achieve the shift towards sustainable development. In this respect, I am happy that my fellow Finnish countryman, Mr. Pertti Majanen, an experienced and knowledgeable Ambassador in our foreign service, was elected to be the Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing together with Mr. Mansur Muhtar, Executive Director of the World Bank and former Nigerian Minister of Finance.

The Committee, mandated by the Rio+20 Conference and working in parallel and in close co-operation with the Open Working Group of Sustainable Development Goals, will look into the financing needs, mobilization of resources as well as institutional arrangements to propose effective solutions to facilitate funding for sustainable development. It will not be an easy task but it will certainly be an opportunity to create a forward-looking framework that our common future Sustainable Development agenda calls for.

I firmly believe that sustainable development financing must – to a large extent – be based on domestic resource mobilization and management. Official Development Assistance will still play an important role, especially in the Least Developed Countries, and as a catalyst for other financing. In view of improving domestic resource mobilization, national tax collection and its administration need to be strengthened. In the same vein, illicit financial flows and tax evasion need to be tackled. Revenue from national resources must be managed transparently and they should benefit all citizens. Our experience in Finland has shown that taxation is an effective means to address inequality.

Development challenges ahead of us are various and huge – both in terms of content and financing. In order to achieve sustainable development, new partnerships are necessary. Civil society and the private sector play an increasingly important role. Promotion of green economy is a prime example of the need for these new partnerships. Involvement of various stakeholders – even beyond traditional groupings – in the design and implementation of the new goals also increases ownership.

It is also important that those responsible for the implementation of the new agenda are held accountable. This requires a strong accountability mechanism which in turn requires more and better data and relevant and solid indicators.

The High Level Political Forum, established by the Rio+20, is mandated to advance enhanced and balanced integration of the interrelated dimensions of sustainable development while recognizing its fundamental link with poverty eradication. A review mechanism within High Level Political Forum will be one of the key factors measuring the progress of the future Sustainable Development Goals. We all need to work hard towards ensuring the success of this High Level Political Forum as the forum to keep track of sustainable development at the highest political level.

Impacts of climate change have a tendency to amplify the challenges of developing countries in addressing poverty and promoting economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development. Thus, we are of the view, that we have reached a point when a green economy is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for poverty reduction and sustainability. Combatting climate change as well as other environmental challenges related to the planet´s carrying capacity thus need to be entwined with the post-2015 agenda.

The Worldwatch Institute reported in 2012 that Peru is the only country in the world that can be seen as truly sustainable. The comparison between countries was made by comparing the United Nation’s Human Development Index and the Ecologial Footprint measure. The idea behind this is that a country needs to respond to the human needs of the population with a sustainable ecological cost. In order to be sustainable, The Human Development Index score needs to exceed 0.08 – a number the UN deems the lowest threshold for a high level of human development – and the country’s ecological footprint should be less than 1.8 hectares per person, which is the global average limit for not undermining the earth’s ability to regenerate.

This is exceptional. You have reached a balanced level of resource consumption and social development. I encourage your nation to continue the work on social equality and sustainable use of natural resources. With this setting, it is reasonable that Peru will host the COP20 climate negotiations in December 2014. Finland gives its strong support to Peru as the COP20 Presidency, and we believe Peru can play an important role in building bridges between the views of different groupings and, in particular, in approaching the like-minded developing countries. COP20 will have a crucial role in laying the foundation of the new global climate agreement.

Peru has shown the ability for sustainable development. It has also shown in its politics that economic growth does not just mean development, but that a more equal distribution of growth leads to sustainable development. We share the view that women, children, youth and marginalized groups such as the indigenous people need to be included in the development agenda. Equity and justice are the keys to achieve sustainable development.

I hope that with this short overview on the current global development agenda, I have been able to demonstrate that a global common vision is crucial to achieve our objectives. We share the same objectives and the same values to achieve them: equality and respect of nature.

Dear young diplomats, climate change and global development issues will remain in our global agenda for the coming years. The solution to these global challenges lie in cooperation – cooperation between nations, like UN conferences but also in cooperation within one nation: the roles of the public and the private sector and the civil society need to be seen linked and equally important. Cooperation, be it national, global, vertical or horizontal is not only welcome, but necessary.

Thank you, muchas gracias!