Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö calls for establishment of forest funds in Europe
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Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö (Nat. Coalition Party) is calling on the government of Matti Vanhanen (Centre) to take the initiative in the European Union for the establishment of forest funds in Europe.
As the Speaker, Niinistö does not take part in actual Parliamentary debate. However, he has spoken about his idea to people in the forest industry, banking, and institutional investors.
Reasons cited by Niinistö for a forest fund system include Russia's wood export tariffs, resistance to calls for felling trees, difficulties in acquiring sufficient raw materialsfor the forest industry, emissions trading, and Finland's reputation in forest protection.
"Finland should immediately enter EU arenas with its own concrete initiatives in forest issues."
A forest fund envisioned by Niinistö would be an institution that administers forests, which would bring a return on investors' money.
"It would use forests economically, grow forests, plant new forests, and own more trees than it fells. The yield would not be immense, but relatively safe. Typical investors would be work pension funds, for instance."
One potential supporter might be Niinistö's former employer, the European Investment Bank. Niinistö says that EU member states could use the bank to give a political signal on behalf of the funds.
"Finland should take the whole fund project into its name", Niinistö says.
"It is my experience that in Europe, the ordinary person's concern about the climate is greater than in Finland. Any concrete action to fight climate change would be accepted by the people now, and much better than vague declarations at summit meetings."
He would also make the funds open to small investors. "Invest here, and you'll get your own tree."
Niinistö would like to see one or more funds in all of Europe. "It would be best if we had our own fund."
The initial capital would come from large investors satisfied with a low, but secure yield.
The yield would be in the form of wood that is grown. Planting forests would bring more greenhouse gas emission rights, which are a money-making commodity as such. "Emission rights would bring a direct flow of money to the funds."
Britain already has a forest fund worth more than E.R. 300 million. The fund envisioned by Niinistö would be worth several billion, as is the case in the United States.
He points out that simply slowing down climate change requires actions calculated in percentages of world GDP. "It is worth considering if it is worth increasing the lung capacity."
Niinistö's idea is to "collect a big briefcase full of money, and invest it in forests in the name of the fund, and make a deal with the forest industry on the sale of the wood. The forest industry could also invest in the funds, but the sales situations need to be free".
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.6.2007 - TODAY |
 Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö calls for establishment of forest funds in Europe |
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