SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS

Our daily lives, decision-making practices and business can fit within the earth’s carrying capacity. It pays to seize sustainable solutions right now, as they can help us stop overconsumption and biodiversity loss and mitigate climate change.

LATEST

european green deal 2.0
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Sitra’s proposal to the next European Commission: put nature at the heart of decision-making and continue the European Green Deal

Young leaders on stage at the WCEF2023.
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The youth recipe for a just and circular future

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We can now measure biodiversity footprints – here’s how

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Finnish researchers pave the way for a common international biodiversity footprint metric 

A collage-like illustration of oil pumps and the money around them burning. The fire is put out by Manneke's Pisin Urtsa. There is a lot more money in front of the WCEF logo and the globe than there is around the oil pumps.
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From COP28 to a circular world: Investments need to focus on the circular economy alongside renewables

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Finland would benefit from a new accounting system that measures natural capital 

Kuvassa WCEF tapahtuman logo, spottivalot ja raamit sekä erilaisia lintuja
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Call for innovative exhibitors at WCEF2024

Interview

Signs of progress from Dubai climate conference: end of fossil fuels on the cards, long-awaited Loss and Damage Fund set up

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Strong message from the Finnish Finance Nature Summit: nature-positive business is possible, the role of financiers is crucial

several famous buildings and monuments from Brussels assembled above the WCEF2024 logo
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WCEF2024 hits Brussels on 15–18 April to turn circular visions into actions

Hand holding a megaphone with colourful waves coming out of it and the text WCEF Side Event
Call for applications

WCEF Side Events in 2024

toolbox and the globe
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UN-compiled circular economy toolbox helps countries accelerate their Nationally Determined Contributions

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Take the new Lifestyle Test and try a sustainable lifestyle

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New framework helps private sector address nature loss – 7+1 things you should know about the TNFD

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WCEF2023 Summary Report is here!

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Apply metrics and regulation to scale up circular solutions

WCEF2023 logo, an eagle holding a briefcase with money flying
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Leading multilateral development banks tighten their collaboration to accelerate the circular economy

TOPICS

Step inside.

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Nature and the economy

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Nature and daily life

Kädessä kännykkä, jonka näytöllä lukee PSLifestyle.
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PSLifestyle

World Circular Economy Forum WCEF
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The World Circular Economy Forum WCEF

PREVIOUS TOPICS

Still important.

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Climate and nature solutions

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A circular economy

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Sustainable everyday life

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Green to Scale

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Carbon-neutral industry

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Responsible mining

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Expert Panel on Sustainable Development

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Industrial symbiosis

Ilmastonmuutos on ihmisen toiminnan seuraus.
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Climate change

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Resource wisdom

Kylä ja tuulimylly
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Investments on energy

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Nature and health

Kuva: Tietoa Visualisointi/Helsingin kaupunkisuunnitteluvirasto
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Construction

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Self-produced energy

Mehiläiskenno
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Communal spirit

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Low2No

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Bioeconomy

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Natural resources strategy

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Organic and local food

What is it about?

We have set off on a journey towards a society based on the limits of the earth’s carrying capacity. We need to act more swiftly and efficiently to lower emissions in a world ravaged by the climate crisis, diminishing natural resources and biodiversity Biodiversity The diversity of wildlife that safeguards the preconditions for life on Earth. Open term page Biodiversity , and population growth. This means that our well-being can no longer be based on overconsumption Earth overshoot day The calculated date on which humanity’s ecological footprint exceeds the earth’s annual biocapacity; that is, its capacity to produce renewable natural resources and process the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of fossil fuels. Open term page Earth overshoot day  and fossil fuels.

We at Sitra, through our work with our Finnish and international partners, are the first in the world to offer the means for this new kind of daily life, where companies’ business models are based on the circular economy and offering services rather than just manufacturing new products. We help people find their own ways of living sustainably, increase the demand for environmentally friendly solutions and challenge the public sector to create a functional framework for the new economic model – a carbon-neutral circular economy A carbon-neutral circular economy An economic system that works on a carbon-neutral basis – i.e. produces net zero emissions – and has adapted to the earth’s carrying capacity and the planetary boundaries. Open term page A carbon-neutral circular economy .

Our aim is for Finland to be an international trailblazer for a new kind of sustainable society in 2025.

What are we doing?

We raise awareness and inspire people, companies, research institutions and government to identify opportunities in a new kind of low-carbon lifestyle and related business. The world’s growing cities increase demand for more sustainable food production, for example, which is a significant market opportunity for Finnish businesses as well. Succeeding in this requires a new kind of co-operation between companies and research institutions and cities, municipalities and government.

Our means of achieving this goal include challenge prize competitions, development programmes, experiments, events, reports and opinions. We work to bring all the various interested parties together, as encounters give rise to the kind of new activity that will build the carbon-neutral Carbon-neutral Describes, for example, a product, company, municipality or state that only emits as much carbon dioxide as it can offset. The carbon footprint of a carbon-neutral product during its entire life cycle is zero. Open term page Carbon-neutral  circular economy. In fact, together we have succeeded in creating operating models with which societal change can be achieved while ensuring competitiveness. Now, we will offer and export these proven ways of working and tools to other countries to use in order to accelerate the transition towards a global carbon-neutral circular economy.

In 2021, we will also be looking at sustainability from the viewpoint of halting biodiversity loss. Stay tuned!

What has been achieved?

Since 2013, we have been developing practical tools for companies and industry so they can transform into carbon-neutral businesses. Companies also play a significant role in making smarter and more sustainable choices more attractive. We have also encouraged Finns to live good and more sustainable lives and investigated how sustainable Finns already are and the kinds of feelings climate change causes. Sitra’s lifestyle test has been taken more than a million times, and thousands of Finns have prepared a personal plan to reduce their carbon footprint.

In order to build a climate-positive Finland that supports biodiversity, we need proven solution models. We investigate new and innovative measures that encompass the whole of society to significantly reduce climate emissions. We have proposed a sustainable development tax reform (in Finnish) for Finland and have investigated the scaling-up of proven solutions, such as the Green to Scale projects.

According to our report, the circular economy can increase the value of our national economy by at least 3 billion euros annually by 2030. The world’s first road map to a circular economy, created under Sitra’s lead, was published in the autumn 2016, and its version 2.0 updated Finland’s route to sustainable success and the transformation of the economy. The main attention is on the role of government as a facilitator, encounters between different parties in society and co-operation between companies.

To celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence, we instigated the World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), an annual event that brings together business leaders, policymakers and experts from around the world to discuss today’s best circular economy solutions.

Together with education institutions, we have created materials for teaching the circular economy in Finnish primary schools, upper secondary schools and vocational schools and created the Climate.now teaching module with universities to ensure that Finnish students of all disciplines are given up-to-date information about climate change and its impacts on their own fields.

PUBLICATIONS

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Evaluation of Sitra’s Sustainability Solutions theme – Part 2

toolbox and the globe
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Building circularity into Nationally Determined Contributions

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Effective nature work

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Towards planetary health (summary)

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WCEF2023 Summary Report

Hand holding Sitra memorandum Putting nature at the heart of European Green Deal
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Putting nature at the heart of the European Green Deal

sitra memorandum: nature safeguards our economy
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Nature safeguards our economy

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WCEF2022 Summary Report

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The impact of the circular economy on jobs and skills

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Sustainable growth with circular economy business models

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Circular innovation and ecodesign in the textiles sector

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The Great Nature Dialogue

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Tackling root causes

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On the Brink of an Energy Crisis – What Can We Learn from the Past?

WCEF logo
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WCEF2021 summary report

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Enabling cost-efficient electrification in Finland

EVENTS

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World Circular Economy Forum 2023

Helsinki, Tuesday – Friday, May 30 – Jun 02
World Circular Economy Forum WCEF
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The World Circular Economy Forum WCEF

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Finnish Climate Summit

Wednesday, Jun 13
watch live live watch recording
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RECONFIGURE: The powerful potential of the circular economy on an industrial scale

Tuesday, Jun 05
watch live live

CONTACT US

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Lasse Miettinen
Director, Sustainability solutions
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Anu Mänty
Senior Lead, Sustainability solutions
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Tuula Sjöstedt
Specialist, Communications and Public Affairs
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Antti Lehtinen
Specialist, Communications and Public Affairs
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Tuuli Hietaniemi
Senior Lead, Sustainability solutions
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Outi Haanperä
Project Director, Nature and the economy
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Kari Herlevi
Project Director, Global collaboration, Sustainability solutions
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Markus Terho
Director, Nature and daily life & PSLifestyle