Advocacy and flag -raising needed 

“Who will raise the cat’s tail if not the cat itself?” 

This is a Finnish saying, referring to the need—and indeed the outright necessity—to act in one’s own interest, to make one’s own voice heard. It describes well the need and necessity of forest based value chain to advocate in Brussels. It is not enough to be good in business. We need to be clever even in advocacy.

We all find ourselves puzzled at times by European Union regulations. Often the Union ends up in the role of scapegoat even without fault of its own, but the roughly eighty EU regulations concerning the forest sector alone contain various oddities and inconsistencies. This underpins the need to work efficiently and in good cooperation to ensure that things can be done better in Brussels.

Finland is the most forested country in the European Union. The share of forest industry products in goods exports is overwhelmingly higher in Finland (16–18%) than in any other EU country. Our northern conditions are not exactly typical either. It is therefore understandable that our reality can be difficult to grasp. That is why we must make our voices heard.

For us forest people, the forest-based value chain is an important part of our identity and sometimes even a given. We know how to do things and we are able to do them, and we are a key builder of a green self-sufficient and competitive Europe. At the level of the entire EU, however, there may be someone else whose concerns feel more concrete and greater. Once again, one must stand one’s ground.

We often see the EU legislative machinery as a massive and impenetrable behemoth. Yet for any specific issue there may be only one or a few people in the Commission as well. Their hands are full of work, and their time is limited to seek out and acquire new information. Therefore, information must be shared tirelessly, conditions explained, and impacts described.

Fortunately, it is possible to have an impact. 

EU legislation can be influenced. There are people in Brussels who want to listen and learn about the opportunities of the forest-based value chain. The EU has instruments that also support innovations and successful commercialization in the forest-based bioeconomy. Elevating competitiveness and self-sufficiency to the center of policy gives our sector a good opportunity to strengthen its profile and thereby improve its future operating conditions.

However, one must carry one’s own message forward, “raise one’s own tail.” The foundation of success lies in the everyday work of the actors in the value chain: in doing things ambitiously and boldly throughout the entire chain and in the ecosystems connected to it. Towards a fossil-free future.

When ambition and expertise are translated into well-considered and precisely targeted actions, real change follows. This is a long term process, with no quick wins in sight.

Welcome to Helsinki, the heart of forests and innovation!