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Finnish Biodiversity Award 2023–2024 was given to an actor that had done something inspiring to halt biodiversity loss. The winner of the competition was Crowdsorsa mobile game that has already helped fight against invasive alien species in Finland on a total of 4 million square metres. Honourable mentions were awarded to the cities of Kauniainen and Vantaa. The prizes were awarded by Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala.

Three separate studies examine the development of nature value markets from the perspectives of sellers who generate nature values, buyers and intermediary organisations. According to the studies, nature value markets are an important means of increasing private funding for nature action, but their large-scale establishment requires clear rules and additional incentives.

The Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil ended on Saturday evening Finnish time, after having continued almost 24 hours longer than planned. The political commitment achieved was modest relative to the objectives of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. However, in the negotiations during the last night the EU managed to include points in the resolutions that will ensure that the work on energy transition and phasing out fossil fuels will continue, even if this will be less binding than the EU and Finland had hoped. The gap between the targets and the emission reductions needed to achieve these is also mentioned in the resolutions.

With a budget of almost EUR 28 million, the ACWA LIFE project is one of the most significant projects during the history of water resources management in Finland. The eight-year project to be started in the beginning of 2026 will improve the status of waters by enhancing river basin management planning and actions based on this in five areas.

The Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland METSO has established its position as part of nature conservation in Finland. The programme has developed a high-quality network of protected areas that already covers almost 100,000 hectares. The closing seminar of the programme period 2008–2025 presented some of the success stories of the widely appreciated METSO Programme.

Minister Multala: It is most important that we were able to reach an agreement, even if many of the details remained to be decided later.

The world countries will convene at the Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil on 10–21 November. The countries are required to update their Nationally Determined Contributions every five years, and the next round of submissions is due just ahead the conference.

A working group of the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Defence has been appointed to explore how nature restoration and other ways to make use of natural barriers can support national defence and border security especially in eastern Finland.

Finland’s circular economy solutions and active role in developing nature funding for companies were strongly highlighted at the European Business & Nature Summit 2025 in Helsinki. In connection with the event, Minister Multala met Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall and Eric Mamer, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment.

The EU environment ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Tuesday 21 October. The ministers are expected to adopt Council conclusions on the preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) and on the Water Resilience Strategy. The ministers will also discuss the European Ocean Pact proposed by the European Commission. Minister of Climate and the Environment Sari Multala will represent Finland at the meeting.