Greens Iiris Suomela, who will replace Maria Ohisalo: “The moment has come that the direction of business life is our direction”

The Greens Chairman, Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and rising in his place Iiris Suomela emphasized in connection with the meeting of the Green Party delegation on Saturday that the Greens are on the side of Finnish business in their climate demands and not against it.

“There have been no major line changes in the Green Line, but the world is clearly turning in the direction we have been pushing for a long time,” Ohisalo said.

He resembled a green veteran politician Satu Hassin has argued decades ago that Finnish companies benefit from measures to combat climate change.

“Now we see that Finnish companies really see this as a competitive advantage. With pleasure, I read today from Helsingin Sanomat that the Norwegian Oil Fund also demands more climate action from companies, ”Ohisalo said.

Read more: The world’s largest shareholder is demanding that the companies it owns become conservationists: “The link between biodiversity and profits is becoming increasingly clear”

The Greens’ party delegation will meet in Lahti on Saturday and Sunday. The meeting will decide on the party’s new European program and prepare the program for the forthcoming regional elections.

Suomela added that the business community also sees that the good success of the Greens in the German federal elections, for example, creates opportunities for Finnish companies.

“Now is the time for the direction of business to be the same as our direction. It seems that many have a little outdated perception of this. We are on the same lines as the business community, and it is also worth saying it out loud, ”Suomela said.

Both party leaders also highlighted the lack of meaningfulness of eurozone economic discipline rules in a situation where the majority of countries are unable to meet the requirements now or in the future.

“More and more economists have also questioned the rules, and this is no longer just a debate between left-wing parties,” Ohisalo said.

Suomelan according to which the development of rules does not necessarily mean abandoning them or even relaxing them. He referred to the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund Olivier Blanchardin proposal for the development of rules.

Under the current rules of monetary union, public debt should not exceed 60% of GDP and the general government deficit should not exceed 3% of GDP.

“The idea is to develop fiscal policy standards that really describe debt sustainability and that are also adhered to. It doesn’t make sense to keep a dead letter valid, ”Suomela said.

According to him, the debt rules must be such that money is available for sensible purposes, such as investments to combat climate change. Suomela also mentioned, for example, mental health services and early childhood education.

“The euro put into early childhood education means that as children grow up, they are more likely to get an education and thus meet the labor needs of companies.”

Read more: Shouldn’t debt be feared anymore?

Suomela in his speech to the Party Council, he strongly defended EU membership and the active development of the Union. He recounted his harsh experiences living at school age in Britain, which was pursuing austerity policies after the financial crisis.

Suomela emphasized the economic importance of the Union for a small export-driven economy like Finland.

“The EU is by no means perfect. On the contrary, much remains to be done, both in the fight against the climate crisis and in the reform of economic policy. The best way to address the EU’s shortcomings is to be involved, not to be left out. Instead of being cornered, we need a genuine desire to look for new solutions together, ”said Suomela.

Suomela emphasized the Union’s key role in combating, for example, banking and economic crises and called for these mechanisms to be strengthened.

“It is therefore great that we are bringing forward the introduction of a common contingency arrangement for an EU area condensing the banking union. This will combat banking crises, strengthen investor responsibility and break the link between the state and banks. “

Chairman In his own speech, Ohisalo rejoiced at the good success of the Green Sister Party in the German federal election.

In his speech, Ohisalo also referred remotely to Finland’s forthcoming parliamentary elections and possible government patterns. He compared the position of the Greens in Finland to the German sister party, for which Ohisalo holds an important balance language position in the future German government.

“With the exception of the hardened right-wing conservative government coalition, it’s hard to imagine a government base on which the Greens would no longer be needed. We are not ready to compromise on our values, but the status of the balance language must continue to be used wisely, ”Ohisalo said.

Ohisalo reminded that climate change is already visible as an extreme phenomenon in Finland.

“Extreme weather events, forest fires, floods and heavy rains are already equally a scourge of agriculture and a burden on urban technical action. And the situation will get worse. ”

He believes that combating climate change will create many opportunities for Finnish companies, even if the costs of the measures come. Therefore, in Ohisalo’s opinion, Finland should be “at the forefront” of climate policy and a pioneer.

“Solutions to replace fossil fuels can bring export earnings well into the future, and the potential for a hydrogen and circular economy is even greater.”

According to Ohisalo, the possibilities of commercializing carbon sequestration and reducing soil emissions should also be explored.

Ohisalo also emphasized the need to continue efforts to promote labor migration, as the economy is suffering from chronic labor shortages.

He also highlighted the situation in Afghanistan and the escalation of the human crisis in the country. Ohisalo emphasized the need to create a more “humane” asylum system in Europe in general, as refugees will also increase for climate reasons.

“Instead of focusing on building walls at Europe’s borders, we need to think about how to open up safe routes to Europe and how responsibilities can be shared most effectively between EU Member States.”

The Greens Chairman of the Parliamentary Group Emma Kari in his own speech, strongly criticized the idea of ​​not setting a separate emission reduction target for agriculture.

“It is incomprehensible that agriculture should not have its own emission reduction target,” Kari said.

Minister of Agriculture Jari Leppä (Central) rejected the idea of ​​its own goal in agriculture in an interview with HS at the end of September.

Read more: Minister Jari Leppä says “no” to the agricultural emission reduction target

Kari reminded that the farmers’ organization MTK has already drawn up detailed plans and scenarios for measures to reduce emissions.

“The middle of MTK’s scenarios would reduce emissions by 30 percent. So it is not a question of the lack of will of the farmers or the interest group, but of whether the politicians are ready to make decisions, ”Kari said.

The Greens The party government unanimously elected Suomela’s Deputy Ohisalo on Friday. Ohisalo says that he nominated Suomela for the position, and there were no opponents.

Due to the proximity of the regional elections, the Greens have the idea that someone other than Suomela will be elected Deputy Minister of Ohisalo.

The party arrangements will be decided jointly by the party delegation and the parliamentary group on 11 October. Ohisalo intends to make his own presentation for his deputy.

He said at a news conference on Saturday that he had received a lot of suggestions from the field on how the issue of substitution should be organized.

Read more: Iiris Suomela will succeed Maria Ohisalo as chairman of the Greens – says she will also be available as minister

Correction on October 3 at 5:46 pm: Iiris Suomela will become the deputy chairman of the Greens, Maria Ohisalo, not a successor, as the title originally wrote.