Finland adopts guideline for sustainable use of seas

The Government on Thursday in its plenary session adopted the guidelines for Finland’s marine and maritime policy, said a government press release.

According to the vision for the policy, Finland has global influence and produces solutions to ensure that the use of marine natural resources is sustainable, the status of the marine environment is good, and the impacts of climate change do not exceed the carrying capacity of the oceans.

The guidelines determine the focus areas of Finland’s marine and maritime policy, extending all the way to the oceans.

The selected priority themes for the policy are marine protection, maritime logistics, maritime cluster and marine production. The horizontal themes associated with all these priorities include digitalisation, research and education, exerting influence in international contexts, and safe and secure operating environment.

All the proposed measures are guided by the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the principles of sustainable blue growth.

The pressures faced by the marine environment keep growing, including those associated with climate change and littering. At the same time maritime transport and the logistics sector as a whole will also be facing great changes. The financial ecosystem of the Finnish maritime cluster, composed of the various maritime industries and about 3,000 companies, is already a highly significant industrial sector, with total turnover as high as EUR 13 billion. Maintaining competitiveness and making use of opening markets are key factors for the growth of the maritime cluster.

On 24 October 2016, the Prime Minister's Office appointed a steering group on the Baltic Sea and marine and maritime policy, with representatives from different ministries, to prepare an update of the Government Report on the Baltic Sea and to develop and coordinate the national marine and maritime policy.

At the first stage of the work, the steering group prepared Finland’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and in the second stage the guidelines for Finland’s marine and maritime policy. The guidelines were prepared in close cooperation with various stakeholders in the fields of marine and maritime policy.