COP31: Helsinki Green Economy Initiative launched

Helsinki Green Economy Initiative, a new collaboration bringing together economic research, policymaking and business to advance economic growth while accelerating climate and nature action, was launched in COP31 side event in Antalya (Türkiye) on 12 November 2026.

Climate change is not only an environmental issue

In 2019, Finland helped establish the Helsinki Principles around a powerful idea: climate change is not only an environmental issue but a fundamental economic and financial issue.

Today, this thinking is more relevant than ever and needs to encompass a broader economic transformation. Competitiveness, climate change, biodiversity loss, security and investment are increasingly interconnected. Yet the knowledge needed to navigate this transformation is often fragmented across universities, government and business sector.

The Helsinki Green Economy Initiative will create a platform where these communities can work together. It will connect economic and financial research with real-world policymaking and business decisions, addressing climate and nature as integral parts of economic development.

Its overarching ambition is to develop and apply the economic thinking needed for climate- and nature-positive growth, and to strengthen Finland’s international leadership in the green economic transformation.

Sustainability is a management and leadership challenge

The green transition requires more than technology. In many cases solutions or knowledge already exist, but the world isn’t yet taking them into use. Big societal decisions are still being made based on intuition, without understanding the consequences involved.

‘This makes sustainability very much a management and leadership challenge – and it’s a challenge we’ve proudly taken on at the Aalto University School of Business,’ Dean Timo Korkeamäki said in the launch event.

Helsinki Green Economy will produce the analytical tools we need to support decision-making at the highest level. Together with our partners here, we’ll provide the basis for sound decision-making around sustainability in Finland, and internationally. That’s something to be proud of – it’s a big step forward. 

At Aalto School of Business, we are also pleased to be part of the initiative for another reason: our students, our biggest impact.

As one of the leading business schools in Europe, we are training the leaders of tomorrow. Through their education, our graduates receive a toolkit to make change happen in the business world and society. 

Helsinki Green Economy only strengthens our capacity to train the next generation for the green transition – for Finland, for the world. 

‘I speak on behalf of everyone at the School of Business when I say we’re thrilled to be part of this initiative, and we look forward to working with all of the partners on this,‘ Dean Timo Korkeamäki concluded.

Launching the Helsinki Green Economy Initiative

The high-level COP31 side event was opened by President Alexander Stubb. His speech was followed by a keynote by Professor Lord Nicholas Stern. After that, leaders of the three Anchor Partners; Tuuli Kaskinen, CEO, Climate Leadership Coalition, Anne Portaankorva, Vice Rector (Research and Sustainability), The University of Helsinki, and Timo Korkeamäki, Dean, Aalto University School of Business, presented the Initiative and discussed it with Professor Lord Nicholas Stern. Professor Stern wrote ‘The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change’ for the UK Government already in 2006. The review examines the global economic impacts of climate change.

Helsinki Green Economy Initiative builds on Finland’s leadership in establishing the Helsinki Principles and the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. Its ambition is to take the next step: to bring leading economic and financial knowledge more directly into practical decisions on investment, competitiveness and the transition towards a climate- and nature-positive economy. 

The Initiative led by the University of Helsinki, Aalto University and Climate Leadership Coalition (CLC) as its Finnish Anchor Partners, will be seeking collaboration with international partners of the Coalition, including the London School of Economics (LSE).

Why Finland and why now?

Finland has a strong foundation for this work. In 2019, Finland played a central role in establishing the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action and its Helsinki Principles under then Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo. The Principles helped establish the role of economic, fiscal and financial policy in tackling climate change. Today, the Coalition has 105 member countries.

The Helsinki Green Economy Initiative builds on this legacy while widening the agenda from climate to the broader economic transformation, including nature and biodiversity alongside climate.

The Initiative has been developed by Finnish stakeholders in consultation with LSE and under the patronage of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

Through cooperation between Finnish and international universities, policymakers and businesses, it aims to make Finland a leading place for developing and applying economic approaches to the green transition.