Finland is one of the world's leading countries in environmental sustainability. In the World Economic Forum's Performance Index 2010 Finland ranked 14th. The 2010 EPI ranked 163 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national government scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals.
The Finnish environmental legislation has always been among the strictest in the world and environmental issues have been at top on the agenda for years. Therefore, Finland has a long tradition in developing environmentally sustainable technologies, and the Finnish environmental businesses are at the very top of their niche. Alongside major corporations, small and medium sized environmental enterprises are also continuously introducing new technologies and innovative solutions.
This development means that new business opportunities have cropped up for both local companies and companies looking for new markets in the region. For example, there are a vast number of projects involving environmental technology and R&D in Finland.
This is not happening solely in public R&D projects, but the private sector has expressed lots of interest. The latter is looking for new and innovative partnership possibilities. Finland is famous of the high-tech and know-how, but this does not mean Finnish companies can manage private innovation schemes alone. Local companies are constantly looking for new contacts abroad for development, commercial cooperation and new marketing alliances.
Energy conservation and renewable energy |
Mining industry |
Waste management
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Energy |
Water protection |
Forestry |