FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Tarja Pirinen, Fiiu Linninen, Teija Lius and Marko Koski, HPP Attorneys Ltd
2.7 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Guidelines and Regulations Certain voluntary mining-related CSR tools have been developed in Finland, being a system of annual CSR reporting for companies operating in Finland in the field of mining and ore exploration and a sustainability standard for mining based on the Canadian initiative Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM). The Finnish TSM includes ten tools for evaluating corporate responsibility and includes annual reporting and triennial report - ing assurance. The CSR tools cover the entire lifecycle of mining operations. The tools were developed by the Finnish Network for Sustain - able Mining, the operations of which ceased in 2023. The Finnish Mining Association is continu - ing the development and implementation of the corporate responsibility work. 2.8 Illegal Mining Illegal mining is not considered an issue in Fin - land. The operators comply well with permitting requirements and granted permits. Tukes as the mining authority and the local ELY Centres as environmental supervising authorities intervene effectively in unauthorised activities. There is also a number of quite active NGOs that provide information and make initiatives to the supervis - ing authorities. 2.9 Good and Bad Examples of Community Relations/Consultation Impacting Mining Projects Most confrontation regarding mining projects has been seen in situations where the planned location of a mining project is in the vicinity of a tourist resort. This has even resulted in attempts by the municipality to prohibit mining on certain areas by an explicit restriction in master plan regulations. The Supreme Administrative Court, however, ruled in May 2019 (KHO 2019:67) that
tives and the authority or institution responsible for management of the area – assess the effects caused by activity in accordance with the explo - ration or mining permit on the rights of the Sámi as an indigenous people to maintain and devel - op their own language and culture and traditional livelihoods and shall consider measures required for decreasing and preventing damage. The Sámi Parliament, the Skolt village meeting and the local reindeer herding co-operative must be given an opportunity to comment on the report before the start of co-operation. In order to clarify the matter, the permit authority can arrange an event to which the representa - tives of the Sámi Parliament, the Skolt village meeting, the Skolt Council, the local reindeer owners’ associations concerned, the applicant and the authority or institution responsible for management of the area, the municipality, the local fishing area and forests in joint ownership are invited for consultation. In an area specifically intended for reindeer hus - bandry, the permit authority shall, in co-operation with the reindeer herding co-operatives operat - ing in the area, investigate the harm caused to reindeer husbandry by the activities covered by the permit. In the Skolt area, the permit authority shall request a statement from a Skolt village meeting concerning assessment of the impacts caused by activity under the permit on the sources of livelihood and living conditions of the Skolt peo - ple. 2.6 Community Development Agreement for Mining Projects Community development agreements are nei - ther mandatory nor usual in Finland.
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