Event on 7.11.2024: Green transition will not be accepted at any cost

The local opposition to the green transition is not just about fear, but about the real impact of the projects on nature and on local residents and businesses. There may be values at stake that are so important that people are prepared to fight for them.

Event on the acceptability of the Green Transition, organized in Helsinki 7.11.2024, looked at the implementation of the green transition in Finland. Opening the event, Antti Herlin, Chairman of the Board of the TAH Foundation, stressed the key importance of acceptability in promoting the green transition and seizing its opportunities in Finland.

“It is important to discuss both stumbling blocks and solutions to strengthen acceptability in Finnish society and locally at project level.”

Antti Herlin, Chairman of the Board, TAH Foundation

Among the speakers, Professor Lasse Peltonen, the Chairman of the Board and one of the founders of Akordi, drew attention to the costs of conflict.

“The costs of delaying a project include running costs, lost revenue opportunities, lawsuits, fines, increased cost of financing and loss of confidence. So acceptability itself is a major factor in green transition projects. However, this is often not factored into the risks and challenges.”

Lasse Peltonen, Chairman of the Board, Akordi

Minister of the Environment and Climate Kai Mykkänen stressed the huge importance of the green transition for Finland’s economy. The Minister outlined the reform of the licensing administration in line with the one-stop-shop principle and highlighted the Government Programme’s aim to increase the obligations for wind power to improve social acceptability.

Other perspectives on the local acceptability of the transition were offered by project operators and politicians who participated in the panel discussions.

Hans van Zijst from WesselinkVanZijst, a Dutch partner of Akordi, stressed the importance of strategic stakeholder cooperation. According to him, the license to operate granted by law is not sufficient for sustainable growth. Strategic Stakeholder Engagement works towards the license to grow, granted by stakeholders.

“Non-technical, i.e. political and stakeholder-related, reasons account for the majority of industrial investment failures.”

Hans van Zijst, Senior Consultant at WesselinkVanZijst

At the event, Jonna Kangasoja, CEO of Akordi, published a playbook to support actors in the green transition. To harness the growth potential of the green transition, new skills are needed to manage its local impacts. Akord has a decade of experience in conflict prevention in Finland. By carefully defining the issues to be addressed, acceptable solutions can be formulated. Solutions serve everyone, but they require cooperation between many.

“It is at the local level that we need to learn about conflict resolution methods. Project actors need proactive rules of the game and a checklist of methods to strengthen acceptability. The Green Transition Playbook will help actors reconcile the needs of local communities with environmental values.”

Jonna Kangasoja, CEO of Akordi

The event was held in Helsinki on 7.11.2024. It was organised by the TAH Foundation, the Confederation of Finnish Industries, the Climate Leadership Coalition, Greenpeace, the Finnish League for Nature Conservation and Akordi.

Download Akordi’s playbook for green transition actors (in Finnish).