Professor Eeva Furman has been appointed Secretary-General of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development. Furman took up her post in mid-August. She previously worked as Director of the Environmental Policy Centre at the Finnish Environment Institute and has also served as Chair of the Expert Panel on Sustainable Development.

For the second year in a row, Finland has taken the top spot in the annual global ranking of sustainable development. The comparison assesses countries’ progress on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. Of the 17 goals, Finland has achieved or is close to achieving those related to social sustainability in particular. There are still several goals related to ecological sustainability where Finland has work to do. These themes will be discussed at an event on the state of sustainable development in Finland on 8 June.

According to the Europe Sustainable Development Report (2021) published on Tuesday 14 December, Finland is at the top of the list when comparing progress on sustainable development in European countries. Earlier this year, Finland ranked first in a global comparison made using a narrower set of data. Finland is joined in the top three by Sweden and Denmark.