FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Kari Marttinen, Laura Leino, Outi Iso-Markku and Aino Lahti-Nuuttila, Erottaja Attorneys Ltd
Environmental Damage and does not cover criminal penalties.
• the lender’s financial relationship with the person/ entity carrying out the activity; and • the profit the lender seeks from the activity. There are no precedents on the aforementioned ques- tion. In such cases, the court makes a case-by-case assessment of the role and actions of the lender before establishing potential liability. 9.2 Lender Protection In practice, liability for environmental damages result- ing from breaches of environmental law does not extend to lenders. Under normal circumstances, the likelihood of financial institutions or lenders being held liable is considered low. In order to protect themselves from the liability risk, lenders should not be involved in the running of the operations or using their control over the actual operations in a way that would make their role comparable to that of the actual operator. As mentioned in 5.2 Liability for Historical Environ- mental Incidents or Damage and according to the Act on Compensation for Environmental Damage, com- pensation must be paid for a loss defined as environ- mental damage that is caused by activities carried out in a certain area and resulting from: • pollution of the water, air or soil; • noise, vibration, radiation, light, heat or smell; or • other similar nuisance. The compensation will be paid if it is shown that there is a probable causal link between the activities and the loss and if the tolerating the nuisance is considered unreasonable. The Act on Compensation for Environ- mental Damage does not apply to contractual liability for compensation. 10. Civil Liability 10.1 Civil Claims According to the Environmental Protection Act, one can also submit an application to the permit authority to claim compensation for damage not foreseen when an environmental permit was granted.
8. Insurance 8.1 Environmental Insurance
As mentioned in 6.2 Environmental Taxes , the pre- vious statutory environmental insurance system was as of 1 January 2025 replaced by the Environmental Damages Fund, which is a specific fund maintained by the government. Compensation is paid from the fund for the costs incurred in preventing environmental pol- lution and restoring the polluted environment, as well as for the damage caused, when such compensation cannot be collected from the actual responsible party. The funds for the Environmental Damages Fund are collected as tax-like environmental liability contribu- tions from operators whose activities might pose a risk of environmental pollution. It is possible for the operator to take out voluntary environmental insurance. A regular liability insurance may cover compensation for environmental damage caused by sudden and unexpected events to another party. However, there are also specific environmen- tal insurance products available that may also cover long-term damage or damages caused to the insured party itself (eg, property damage or remediation costs) and interruption of business caused by environmental damage. In practice, lender liability is theoretically possible under the Act on Compensation for Environmental Damage, which concerns tort law liability. In addition to the party causing environmental damage, liability for compensation also lies with a party who is compa- rable to the person carrying out the activity. In estab- lishing whether a lender is comparable to the person/ entity carrying out the activity, consideration is given to the following factors: • the competence of the lender and control over the person/entity carrying out the activity; 9. Lender Liability 9.1 Financial Institutions/Lenders
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