Policy recommendations for the EU – outcomes from the Beyond Growth Conference

In a recent Finnish conference, SDSN Northern Europe contributed in making policy recommendations for the upcoming Finnish European Union (EU) Presidency. The recommendations aims for the EU to be a global forerunner in adopting and implementing policies which respect human rights and address the global challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, poverty, inequality, resource depletion and quality of life.

Martin Eriksson from SDSN Northern Europe and Guillaume Lafortune from SDSN France and the SDG Monitoring team attended the conference Beyond Growth – Indicators and Politics for People and Planet in Helsinki on the 28th and 29th of October. The conference was organized by Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo, together with Finland’s National Commission on Sustainable Development. In addition to listening to interesting presentations, the participants worked in groups to outline specific recommendations for the upcoming Finnish EU Presidency.

Read more about FINGO
Read more about Finland’s National Commission on Sustainable Development

The resulting recommendations are categorized into:

• General recommendations
• Inequality of Income, Wealth and Opportunities
• Resilience and Respecting Ecosystem Boundaries
• Fair Transition to Carbon Neutral Circular Economy
• Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development
• Respecting human rights in business

Download: Beyond Growth – Policy recommendations for the EU

– We hope that the Finnish EU Presidency will seize the moment to design new economic models that really work for all people and for the future of our planet, says Martin Eriksson.