His, theme guess the, program, is about to begin at, the end of the event please, remain, in your seats until our guest speakers have left the room then, exit, through the rear of the auditorium thank. You. Esteem. ADO's invitados, el programa, esta, por comenzar, al, final del event Oh por favor per Manny's canon sus asientos hasta. Que nuestros hora Doris invitados, ayan, Salido del auditorio despues, salgan. Por la parte posterior de la auditorio gracias. Please. Welcome the director of the Earth Institute, Alexander. And Halliday, and the, Prime Minister of the Republic of, Finland ms sana marine. It's. Great to see everybody here in one place it's fantastic, my. Name is Alex Holliday I'm director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, I've been here a couple of years. New York's a fantastic, place to be but this university is particularly strong in the area of climate and sustainability. Which. Is why I'm here and why the earth Institute is here we're, particularly excited about today's program, because. Of that and today, we, are. Introducing. As part of the world leaders forum event on. Behalf of the University, I'm particularly honored to welcome the Prime Minister, of the Republic of Finland Her Excellency Miss. Sana marine, she. Will give a keynote address entitled. The climate. Sustainable. Welfare, Society, is. It the model of the future, this. Will be followed by a question-and-answer, session, with the audience moderated. By Karina Gore who, is director of the Center for Earth ethics at Union, Theological Seminary. I'd. Like to thank president, Bollinger for, his support, of this event I'd, also like to thank our partners, this event is co-hosted. By, the world leaders forum the Earth Institute and the, sustainable, development Solutions Network. In. Fact the event has attracted, huge interest, apart, from the people in this room the, lecture is currently live-streaming, to 2,000, students, enrolled. In the sustainable development goal Academy, course, conversations. With global leaders. This. Is particularly important, for us because we're now contemplating, a new kind of construct. At Columbia University, a climate, school and so. As we focus on this and in particular the issue of. Education. In climate, and engagement, with the climate crisis, it's, incredibly, important, that we bring in world leaders to engage. With on this topic, so. I'd like to start by saying a few words about Finland. And Columbia in particular, before. Moving to Columbia is at this place called Oxford, and. One. Of the other faculty there was a guy called Tolkien, jr.. He was a little bit before me but didn't quite overlap. But. One of the things he said was learning. The Finnish language was like discovering, a complete. Wine cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine. Of a kind and flavor never tasted, before it. Quite intoxicated. Me so. You. Should read Tolkien's, stuff on this Columbia, is also intoxicated. With Finland so it's great to have you here in, fact it is one of only two universities on the East Coast that. Offer Finnish as a full academic, class, providing. An incredible opportunity for our students.
The. Finished Studies program, at Columbia University, which we have some representatives, here today. Offers. Courses in Finnish language and culture, and the, students taking Finnish represent, a wide range of schools and areas of study from. Across the university. If. After day after, today you're interested in learning the language please, check out the, lot available online. Sanna. Marine was appointed, prime minister in. December, 2019. She, is the youngest prime minister in Finland's, history she. Has been actively engaged in politics, pretty. Much all of her adult life in, 2014. She was elected as second. Deputy party, leader of the Social Democratic, Party then, in 2015, was, elected to Parliament for her first run, she. Also chaired, tempura. City Council, from 2013. To 2017. And, from. 2017. She was the first deputy party, leader. While. Involved, with parliament she, has been a member of the ground committee, legal. Affairs Committee and. Environment. Committee. Environmental. Values are close to her heart under her leadership, Finland. Is working to build an environmentally, sustainable future. And achieve, carbon. Neutrality by, 2035. So. We look forward to hearing more about Finland's, future plans from. This marine today before. Was doing so I'd like to quickly say a few words about Karina, Gore who. Will feel the discussion. Following. Her talk Karina. Is the founder, and director of the Centre for Earth Epic's at, Union. Theological Seminary, the, Center for Earth effects bridges. The worlds of religion academia, policy, and culture to. Discern and pursue the changes, that are necessary to stop, ecological. Destruction and create, a society, that values the long-term health of the planet, the. Center is also an affiliate of the Earth Institute and Carano serves as, a member of our faculty. Karelas. Previous experience, includes. Serving. In. The legal center of sanctuary, for families, and serving, as director of community affairs for. The Association, to benefit children, she.
Has Also worked as a writer and the author of lighting, the way nine. Women, who changed modern, America, the. University is absolutely, thrilled to host prime minister here the Prime Minister here on campus today, to. Speak to students in particular, about. The critical intersection, of climate change gender, equality and, social welfare, please, welcome Prime, Minister Sante marine to the stage. So. Bitch awkward, moment there with the handshake. But. Yeah they are all their students. First. I want to thank the. University of Columbia, and, the Earth Institute, for, inviting me here today, it. Is a pleasure to, be here with you to discuss how we can build, climate, neutral societies. In a socially, just manner. We. Are now in the midpoint between the, year 1990. And the year 2050. In. The last 30 years the. World has taken important, steps in, fighting, climate change, climate. Science, tells. Us we need to become climate, neutral by, mid-century in order for the human and humanity. To survive. In. The 30 years we have left to become climate, neutral we have to do much more than what we have done so. Far. Climate. Change is not a matter of political opinion it's. A scientific fact. But. We need political decisions. In order to make change, happen. We. Need to implement the, Paris climate, agreement and, we. Need political choices, to, make sure that, the climate actions, are done in a socially, just way. This. Is my key message to. You today we. Can build a climate sustainable. Society and we, can build it in a way that. Is just unfair. For all I. Would. Like to start by telling you a few words about my own country Finland. We. Are a country of only 5.5. Million residents, beautiful. Nature, and skilled, people. Finland. Is located, in the northern part of Europe a Western. Neighbor is Sweden and our eastern neighbor is Russia. Finland. Is called the land, of thousand lakes but. Actually that is underrated, because, there are over, 100,000. 160,000. Lakes in Finland, you. May, also know that we have a coalition government of. Five. Parties. Each party is led by a woman, four. Of us are under dates 35. When. Finland. Became independent, 103. Years ago and still after the Second World War we were one of the purest countries, in the world, today. Finland, soaps many of the world's country comparisons. Whether, for press freedom or for, the happiness of citizens. We. Have built our modern society, an economy, based on the Nordic welfare model. We. Have an open economy that, can adapt to change, the. Key, to our success is, our good quality, education, system that is free from. Tuition the. Early childhood and, all, the way to universities. We. Invest, in R&D and we are one of the leading countries when it comes to, innovation. The. Most important, aspect of our education, system is is that, it provides everyone, with equal opportunities. We. Want to make sure that, the circumstances. You are born into uni. Do, not define, your future. In. The heart of our societies, the idea that every child child. Can become anything, this. Is also the reason why our government is investing, in day care in education in. Research and, in, lifelong learning. Besides. Education, and Nordic, welfare state, one, of the reasons why Finland has succeeded, is a way of making decisions. We. Are used to coalition, governments, and we are used to cooperate.
With Different parties. As. An example a big part of my job as a Prime Minister is. To negotiate and. Try to find compromises, and build consensus. Between, different, parties in the government and, we. Do even, cooperate. With opposition parties, in many issues I. Know. It sounds hard work hard, work and it is, but. What it does is, that we have continuity in the decision-making processes. This. Is how we turned Finland, from a poor country in, the welfare state. And Welfare, Society. We. Need continuity, in. Politics. Also in order to tackle climate change. We. Need everyone. We, want to reach our god climate goals. The. Key issue is that the finish or Nordic, model makes, adapting, to change easier. That. Enables, us to be. Leaders in climate, change. Finland. Aims. To be climate, neutral by, 2035. Our. Government, adopted, this ambitious, goal based, on scientific. Analyst and it analyzes. Biron national climate experts, panel. To. Achieve climate neutrality we, will accelerate, emission, reduction, measures and strengthen. Our carbon, sinks at the, same time. In. Concrete, numbers. Climate, neutrality in. 2035. Means, that, we. Need to cut emissions by. 35. Million tons compared. To current levels. This. Is three times the total transport, sector emissions, in Finland. And. We must enhance our company sinks by 3 million tonnes this. Correspond, to almost half of the aquaculture, emissions, in Finland. Our. Client policies. Are based on academic, research and they, are supported, by the maturity, of Finns our, citizens, industries. Civil. Society, businesses, and political. Parties. The. First thing we must do is to say goodbye to, fossil fuels in, Finland. We will build the first world's. First fossil, fee-free. Welfare, Society. Our. Long-term energy policy goal, is to phase out the use of fossil fuels in the energy sector and move, towards, an emission-free, energy system, in. Electricity. Electricity. Production. We, have already taken big steps, in. 2018. Nearly. 80%, of Finland's, electricity. Production, was, based on carbon free energy, sources. 46%, of energy was produced, by renewables, and 32. With nuclear power. However. However, as. Country with cocaine winters, heating, is a big issue that we have to focus on. In. The same year. 2018. 53%. Of district, heat was produced with fossil fuels and peat. This. Is why our government is investing. Significantly. In policy, measures to, decarbonize our, heat, production. And. How. Will we do this. Finland. Has already banned the use of coal for, energy by, 2029. And we. Are providing energy, companies, with incentives, for. Investments. To replace coal already, by 2025. By. 2030. We will have the domestic, use of imported, mineral oil like, petrol and face, out the use of fossil, fuel oil in hearing. In. Properties, owned by the central, local governments, oil heating will end already in 2020. For, the. Use of peat for energy will be at least half by. Year. 2030. In. Building heating we will encourage investment.
To Move away from fossil fuels, the sustainable, options such as heat pumps and ground source heat, we. Also need new technical, technological. Solutions, and of course energy, efficiency. Secondly. We need to decarbonize. Transportation. The. Transport, sector accounts. For one-fifth, of our of all our emissions. We. Will have these emissions, by year. 2030. But. We will not stop there, in. Autumn, this year we, will publish a national roadmap the, fossil free. Transportation. In. Order to reduce transport. Emissions we will need to face out fossil fuels in transportation. As well, as to reduce transport. Performances. And to promote the transition, towards, more sustainable mobility. Emission. Reduction, measures will, include, reducing. The use of fossil fuels, by, increasing, the blending, obligation. Of biofuels. From, 15% in, 2008. To. 30%. In 2029. And, supporting. Digitalization. And automation, of the transport, system. In. The long term. We. See sustainability produced. Biofuels. Mainly, as a tool for reducing, emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. And aviation. To. Promote more sustainable, mobility we, will encourage cycling, walking, and public transportation. We. Will take climate change mitigation more. Strongly into account in land-use and urban. Planning. Furthermore. We, are enhancing the, charging infrastructure, of, electric. Vehicles. In. The future, petrol, station, change will, be obliged, to provide a certain number of charging, points, for, electric, cars. We. Will set a national application. The bill charging, infrastructure, for, electric cars, in housing, companies and business. Premises. Thirdly. We, will reduce the, emissions from our, industry, and again. A key element of, this work is based on cooperation. We. Are developing sectoral. Low-carbon. Roadmaps, together with our industries, including. The chemical, technology. Forests. And energy industry. These. Roadmaps, describe. The, actions, industries, can take to reduce their emissions. We. Also support, our industry, in transition. In. Early February, our government, decided, to step up a new climate font, the. Font will, focus on comparing. Climate change promoting. Digitalization. And boosting. Low carbon operations, in manufacturing. Industries. The. Font will be one way the channel investments. In developing, the, circular, economy clean. Technology, solutions, and energy. Efficiency. Public. Funding alone will not be enough to make the urgently, needed, transition, to a climate, neutral society happen. Fortunately. Finished, businesses, and English largest. Largely, I see investing. In climate friendly. Energy-efficient. And. Server. Solutions. Beneficial. For, their activities. They. See that, by being. Early adopters. Of new technology. They, will be a better place to compete in the global markets. Particularly. In, country, of forests and peatlands also, the land use sector plays, a central role in achieving, climate neutrality. So. A fourth key element, of our governments climate policy focuses, on reducing land use sector emissions. And enhancing. Carbon. Things. At. The same time we need to protect protect. Biodiversity. The. Government, will develop, a comprehensive climate. Program for, the land use sector the. Program, will include broad, set of measures, we. Wish to safeguard, the management, growth and health, of our. Forests, promote a thirst, of our station, and reduce, the, first station, this. Way we will increase our carbon, sinks. On. The. Other hand the program will include measures, for, the reducing. Emissions. Of swamps. And peatlands, promoting. Climate sustainable, management of swamp forests, and strengthening. The carbon, sequestration. Of, agricultural. Land. Dear. Friends, we. Will not meet, our climate targets or, stops the catastrophic, loss, of. Biodiversity. Unless. We urgently decouple, economic. Growth from.
Greenhouse. Gas emissions, and the use of Natural. Resources. We. Must stop over, consuming, our planet's, resources and, we, do more, with, less. We. Need to think carefully what. Products, could actually be, pre-placed, with, services, and we, need to make sure that, whatever. We, produce is produced, sustainably. Resources. Efficiently, and, can, repaired. Remanufactured. And indents, recycled. This. Is why Finland, invests, a lot in, transforming. Our economy, from. The linear make, use dispose, model. The, circular. Economy. We. Are currently developing, a, long term horizontal. Circle, economic, program, to boost our efforts. The. Program's focus areas, include, circular, economy in, the construction, sector the, role of cities and regions so. Circularity. In heavy industry, and new technologies. And business models. The. Program, is prepared, in cooperation, with key stakeholders and, will, be completed, this, year. Building. And construction. Entails. Enormous, potential for, promoting the circular, economy and, cutting, emissions. In. 2017. Finland. Launched a lot a low-carbon. Roadmap, for, construction. It. Aims, at including, the carbon footprint, of building, materials, in Finnish population for. New buildings by, 2025. This. Means that we will set threshold. Values. For life cycle emissions and, different. Building types, now. Our government aims, to enhance the circular, economy and, increase, the recycling, of materials in. The construction. Sector. Promoting. The circular, economy is, also a key element of our government's, sustainable, taxation. Roadmap. And. Finally. We, are putting our climate, ambition, into, legislation. The. Government will. Present, its proposer. Proposal. For a new climate change Act in, early, 2021. The. Finnish climed Act has been enforced since 2015. But. Now we want to strengthen it as a guiding, instrument. Emission. Reduction, targets for. 2030. And, 2040. Will. Be added to the act, in line with the path to climate neutrality and climate. Negativity. The. Land use sector and target, for some strengthening. Carbon, sinks will also be included in, the act. Dear. Friends. In. Order for. The climate transition, to, be fair and just, we. Need to engage citizens. In active, dialogue, about climate. Policy. That. Is why we have searched last week set up a new climate policy, roundtable. That. Includes, representatives. From local, communities. To the interest, industry, the youth and trade, unions. We. Also do concrete, measures, to implement, just, transition. When. We announced, a race in fuel taxes, we also lowered. The income tax for, the last least, earning, citizens. Some. Areas of the, country are affected. Disproportionately. This. Combined. With, urbanization. Can mean that negative effects, pile up on just some, communities. Local. Action taken by cities cities regions and states is important, driver of low-carbon. Development I. Know. That many US states and cities, have, ambitious, emission, reduction, targets and, climate. Policies. We. Are working together with some US states like, Maine and Michigan, on, climate action, and the, research and development of. Sustainable, and green, industries. Also. In Finland several cities have set themselves more, ambitious, climate neutrality targets. Than, the government, and are. Working, actively together. To reduce their, local, emissions. Dialogue. And joint policy developments, play an important, role in preventing, people from starting. To feel insecure about, their. Future, in. Finland. The, Nordic welfare model, enables a fair socially. Trust transition. And helps, us to, the, impacts, that for, example the, decline of polluting, industries, could have on the regional economies, jobs.
And Services a. Key. Enabler of, a. Just transition is. Education. As, I, mentioned earlier basic. Vocational. And even university. Education, in Finland is free, of tuition. Educational. Paths are designed, in a way that allows, for a smooth transition between different types and levels of studies. Has left, at, different, stages of life. In. Line with our governments recently, published. Climate. Roadmap, we, set particular, priority, on continuous. Learning, employment. Services, and on-the-job learning to, enhance people's security, in, the face of change. Dear. Friends, my. Core message to, you is that without, the holistic view, of sustainable. Development we, cannot fight climate change. Without. The social and economical. The, environmental. Transition. Is not possible. This. Is where Nordic, model comes, to play I. Believe. That open markets, robust, social security, and good quality, public healthcare system, are just, as essential in tackling climate change as, our, energy, taxation. And carbon. Pricing. These. Elements, together with, free education, helps, to ensure that during challenging, times one. Can focus on seeking new, opportunities. Dear. Participants. Climate. Change is a global challenge. According. The UN environmental, programme, if we really aim to limit global temperature. Rise, the century, to, 1.5. Decrease, countries. Must increase the, ambition, of their climate policy, over, fivefold. For. Reaching even to decrease, targets, the ambition, would need to increase, three fold, the. Gap between global, climate, action, and emissions, is huge. This. Has to change, we. Must more work harder, together to, turn the international, community, the path towards. A safe and sustainable, future. It. Is important, that particularly. Major economies. Including, us. Take. Action. Is. Ensuring. Successful. Outcome, at the cop twenty, six in Glasgow, this. November, is very. Important. The. Meeting will be an important, political moment, where, countries, are to think if their climate policy, is enough. Ambitious. Targets, and pledges, the climate neutrality by, mid-century are essential. World. For. The world to, catch up with the science. The. European Union wants to lead by, example. Last. Year during the Finnish presidency. Of the European Union. The member states decided, that, the you will, become climate, neutral by, 2050. We. Are currently debating how. To reach that, target all, across Europe with the Creedy proposed, by the European, Commission. At. The same time we need to acknowledge that, countries, are a different state over. Finland. Continues, to become committed. To contribute, our fair. Share. Also. The U and it, Member States remained, largest. Contributor. Of public, climate finance, to. Developing, countries, including, the. Multilateral, climate, funds, in. 2018. Continue. Contributes. From, the EU, its member states and, the European Investment Bank totaled, 21. Point, seven, billion, euros. However. We cannot solve the climate crisis, only by public funding, we. Need the steer private, funding, to be better alloy aligned. With, the global climate goals. Together. With, the World Bank the Chilean, and Feenie finance. Minister launched, a coalition. Of finance, ministers for, climate action last year. The. Coalition has big transformative. Potential. Finance. Ministers are in charge. Of many effective, policy tools to address the climate, crisis, such, as all those related, to carbon pricing. Science.
Tells Us that. All countries, must replace fossil fuels, with sustainable, options, and, significantly. Enhanced, energy, efficiency. This. Means that some natural resources. Are better left, unused. In. The Arctic's the alarming, changes, caused by climate change are, real and rapid and, taking. Place now. They. Are profound implicit. Implications. For economies, societies. And ecosystems in the region and. But. Also worldwide. If. We are committed, to fighting climate change we must leave fossil, fuel resources untouched. In, the Arctic. Dear. Students. Climate. Change will, not be stopped by, individual, choices. But. By, politics, I, mean. That our individual, actions actions. Count but. We require more. The systemic, change in society not. Just within plastic. Box the paper box. But. Having said that if. We can't get any everyone, on board with, what we are doing we. Will fail. We. Can't get emissions, down if a new inequality. Goes. Up. This. Is why I have today outlined. To. You the Finnish way. Combining. A welfare society, with ambitious, climate policy, we. Believe that, is the, best way, sustainable. Way into. The future, thank. You very much. Thank. You very much. Prime Minister for, that wonderful. Address, and for, your global, leadership, in this. Time of of climate, crisis, we're, really delighted and, honoured to have you here. Do. You need it's only water, it's only water and, it's, not a plastic bottle yeah. You. Have laid out a. Model, a finished, Nordic, model a social, welfare state model. In, which there, is a holistic, view, where. Environmental. Social, and economic factors, are, all seen, together. I, wonder. If you feel. When, you're in the United States as if you are an ambassador of, this, way of thinking and. If. So if you could let us know how you see the United States right, now. And. And. Whether. You. Might have some. Words of guidance, about how we might, think about this model, and, how it connects to our situation. Well. Thank you very much for. The. Question, actually. Reporters. Have asked me this all day, and. I, I've. Been trying to be as. Polite as I can be. Of. Course, it's very worrisome. That united, states are planning, to leave the. Paris. Climate agreement we. Need all the countries, United, States, China. Russia, all the big players. Fighting. Climate change because Finland it's a small country with 5.5. Million residents, we, cannot solve, the crisis, prices. By ourselves we. Are trying, and wanting, to, make. An. Example, to the world that. We can build, climate, neutral society, in socially, just way, so. That, the change we need to make and we need to make it now because, we don't get second, chances, on. This but. We can do it in a way that actually benefits. Ordinary, people, creating. New jobs creating. New technologies. So we want to show the world that, we can do the. Change, in. A way that, actually helps. Everyone. In their own lives so. I think this is very powerful, message and of course as the prime minister of Finland it's, very important, to me to. Speak here with you it's honor I'm very honored, to be here with you because you are the, young generation. You are the change and. When I'm speaking, to you I'm. Convinced. That you will take. These. Words this presentation, and, the example, of Finland. In. The policies, in in, the United States because there are future leaders, in this room also. Thank. You I was. Very interested to learn that. Finland. Has ranked number one in the, global Happiness, index. For. Two years in a row and, in. Looking at the factors, that are used. In this survey, by.
Conducted, By Gallup, I see, GDP. Per capita, social. Support life. Expectancy. Freedom. To make life choices. Generosity. And corruption. Levels and it. Is noted that Finland, scores particular. Well on, generosity. I wanted. To ask you a two-part, question one, a little bit about how, one, nurtures. Generosity. In in, a culture and a society, but. Then also on, this notion of. Of. Growth. Because, you have put forward economic, growth as important, and as you just told us it is important, that we decouple. Economic. Growth from greenhouse gas. Emissions, and from, consumption, so. How. What, are the particular challenges, in doing that. Well. Of course there, are a lot of challenges, we. Are only one, country small country and very dependent, on the global economy, so, as, climate. Change. And. Tackling. Climate change we, cannot do this by ourselves, and. I. Think the, economy is a, key factor, how we can make a change so. We need to decouple, economic. Growth from, the use of. Material. Resources, so, we need to shift the, circular, economy as, I pointed out earlier and, I, believe that they're also big. Potential. For, economic, growth there because. We are now now not using, the. Materials, that, second. Time that we are using the, first time and I think there are also a lot of potential, in thus creating. New jobs and and and actually, creating, economic, growth so, I think circular. Economy is. A key element here and we should focus on that you. Were. At the United Nations earlier, for, International. Women's Day and. You. Have been leader on the issue in Finland as a whole has been a leader on gender, equality, what. Is the relationship, of gender equality to. Sustainability. Well. It's everything it's. Everything, our. Government's program, is, based. On the agenda 2030. We. Want to build a society that is economically. Socially, but, also environmentally. Stainable, it's in the core of our policies. And. Gender equality is. Basis. For. For everything. As. I mentioned a few times before. Finland's, only have 5.5, million residents, so, we had to harness, all, the. Resources. Of everyone, in Finland, we couldn't just a peak, that, half, of the population are. Working. And half of the population are doing, things. That. Helps. Us to build our economy and, our society we, needed everyone, to, be involved, in, policy politics, and that why Finland. Was the first country in the world to. Grant women full, political, rights the. Right to vote, but also the right to. Run for office because. We needed everyone on board of mega. Transforming. Finland from a poor accurate, Aquarion, country, to. Welfare, state, that is now. So. I think, gender, equality is, one. Of the key elements that we need, to. Also tackle, climate change and, it's. It's. Also because, half. Of the population are, women so also. Women need, to be in positions. Where they can make decisions because. Actually, climate, change is is. Hitting, hardest. The. Women and girls worldwide. And. Especially. In. Poor, countries so. We need gender, equality. To. Fight climate change and, we, need women, in powerful, positions, to. Make change what that we need, thank. You, we're. Going to begin. We're. Going to begin the. Question. And answer period from from, the audience, in just a moment so please line, up on, either side, and and think about your question, and before, we do that I'm going to ask one question that, comes, from. The. Sustainable, development, Solutions Network, students. Who are watching. On live stream and. They. Would like to know a little, more about your. Vision, to achieve, carbon. Neutrality, by, 2035. Particularly. What energy, sources. Do. You envision and, also. About, protecting, and regenerating. The carbon, sinks, those two sides hmm. Well, actually I. Said, before and. And. I. Will say. It worth more that actually, a, peak, border for, electric. Production. Of electricity. If it's. Already. Climate. Sustainable. Eighty. Percent over eighty percent, of our electricity are. Been, made by. Renewables, and also. By by nuclear power which. Has. Not, our issues, but but still its its carbon free, but. The big issue is heating, and how. We can move, away from. Burning.
To, More sustainable options. And we do need the technological. Advancements. Here because, we. Don't know. All the solutions, yet so that's why we are investing, in education, in in R&D, in research, because we do need the technological. Solutions. To shift, the heating, from. Burning, more. Climate. Sustainable, ways. And. Actually one. One. Specific. Thing. That we can do and we are actually, also. Implementing. Legislation. On. This or making change in you know legislation. Thus. We. Can use the heat from data centers. To. Hearing. Our houses, so. It's. It's, very important, and actually, there are a lot of heat. Coming from dead centers so so, this. Is a big potential, for us when we are now lowering the, tax on data. Centers, thus we can use the, heat in in, heating. Our houses, that's. Fascinating, thank. You so I would like to, ask. That. People introduce. Yourself, before, you ask your question and please bees to synced so that we have. A chance to hear from more people and, we're. Going to do we're gonna try to do one at a time and. See. How that goes. Thank. You Prime Minister for, the very inspiring, talk my, name is Tom I'm a graduate. Student at the Department, of Chemistry and my, question, is you. Mentioned that. Of course Finland is a very small country and that you need to get everybody on board what, do you think the biggest challenge, is in getting everybody on board and like when you talk to other world leaders what, do you tell, them to try to convince, them to to. Take. Finland, as a model, and and build, the climate, mutual. Society. Well. I believe in leading. By, example, so we're, doing a lot so others would, do as well. We we. Of course don't have the power to say other, world leaders, that you. Need to act now and it's your job of course it's their job because, the globe is. Everyone's. And the climate. Climate. Doesn't know, boundaries. Between the, countries, to, everybody, but it has to do their their, own bit, of tackling, climate change but, we don't have magic. Tools to. Make the world leaders, change, their policies, but we can lead by example and. I think this is very important, that we are doing factly that. Hi. Thank you madam Prime Minister for. Being here with us my name is endre and I'm a medical student here, at Columbia University, so, my question is, irrelevance. To recent, elections in both our countries namely, health, care reform so, first. Do you believe that a, national. Public. Health care system should be administered at the national, level or at the local level and, second. Do, you support or oppose the, decision by some local authorities in, Finland to, contract, the providing, of healthcare services to private for-profit. Entities. Well Finland, has a very. Good quality health care system, that it's also very affordable for, its citizens and of. Course we have the legislation, and every Finnish, citizens, have the same rights for healthcare. But. Actually, the local authorities. Municipalities. Are those that, provides, the services, they're our citizens, and we, are actually now, reforming. Our our social. And health care system, to. Do. A larger, level of regions. Because. Many. Finnish municipalities. Are quite small and they're actually people moving out from, a different, regions, the especially. Bigger cities so we need this, reform, but, when you compared, Finland's. Health care system, the US healthcare system, actually. Finished health care system is very. Cost. Efficient, and very. Good quality for, everyone so, that, of course the countries are different and each country needs makes its own decisions concerning. The public services, but I find, that the. Nordic model the. Way we are, producing. Healthcare. Services, in Finland in Sweden in, Norway, in Denmark, are very, good, very cost efficient, and and. Beneficial. For everyone I. Think. Part of my question was regarding. Local, authorities, in Finland do you support or oppose their. Use of private, for-profit. Services, to provide health care to some people well. We also, have private. Health. Care providers. In, Finland and I believe, that we need we, need both but then we have to regulate, what. Kind of charges, the private, health. Care providers, haven't. We need to have regulations. On, how they work and, we.
Do Have these regulations, already. Thank. You. Hello. Prime Minister thank you for coming to Columbia a lot of schools out there so thank you for choosing us. I'm. Sompob Chen I'm the senior class president for, Columbia engineering my, question to you is what, do you think young leaders like you bring. To the table in fight to combat critical. Issues of the future like climate change. Well. One. Of the key reasons. Why, I became politician. Was climate, change I thought. When I was 20 I felt that, the older generation didn't. Do enough and didn't do that enough to. Secure the future for. Young. People and for children, because. We don't as I said we don't get second chances this, is our chance to act now and we do need to act now if you want to stop, the. Climate crisis, we are facing, so. I I think it's very important, that young people engage. In politics, they. Act. They. Take action, in. Every level so. That we can fight climate change because, as. We can see in, the, world. The. Generations, and, people. In, the decision making positions aren't. Doing. Enough, so. Please everyone. In this room everywhere. Else all the. Younger. Generations, need to act and we need to demand more from, people. In a power powerful. Positions. Thank, you so much for being at this forum I'm. A HUD and I'm a computer science student. At Columbia University. So. I think Finland. Serves as a model for tackling, a lot of like major world issues such as climate change and. Providing, good education, but I was. Wondering you. Know, how Finland, is planning. To deal with some more recent issues. Such as like. The. Corona virus, or the covert 19 you know which. You. Know it's very demanding on the healthcare system, and so. I was wondering how Finland. Is planning to you, know work with its health care system to come up with a solution on, or stop, this. You know pandemic, from, spirit spreading, I guess. Coronavirus. Well. Actually we, have a good health care system, as I said so, we are very good. Prepared, for. Epidemics. And pandemics. So. So I, feel. Strongly that our sido, civil, servants, on our, health care. People. In in health care are very. Skills. They, are. Very. Good of tackling, exactly. This kind of situations. So I'm very I. Don't. Have that. Big. Worries, how. The, Finnish health care providers. And and and. Workers. Are handling, the situation, actually. I'm more worried, about what, the virus does the. Global economy, so, how it, will impact. The economy and how that global. Economic situation will, impacts Finland, so, this is my big worry about. This but. Finland is very well, prepared, and we have all the structures, and all the. Programs. Needed, exactly. These. Kind of situations. Hi. Thank, you for coming I am genomic, and I'm from MOT Charter High School I'm a senior, and, in. America. A lot of the problems, that we have kind, of deal with. The. Economic. Inequalities. That are in a lot of the communities, in America and. Having. A health living a healthy, lifestyle, and a greener lifestyle, for the earth it takes a lot of money so is there a way that we can live, a greener lifestyle, with, with, able to while, being able to afford, that lifestyle, I think. This is a, very, important, question, I think, this is the key question because, if people don't have the resources, to make a better choices they, then. They just can't make them so. It's very important, that in policies, that we, do we. Always look. How, it impacts, socially. And. Economically. Individual. People. And individual, families so. I think it's very important, that we are making decisions, in a way that is also socially just and fair as I, said, before, and. And. This, is the reason why we cannot, build, the. Whole burden on individuals. We. Need the systemic change and people. In in powerful places and positions need. To make the change that is also socially, just and fair but, we cannot. Burden. This on individuals. Because it's. Unfair, it's, unfair, if you don't have the money to make the changes, in your own life then, you just can make them so. I think, it's very important, that we also are. Looking at this angle when we are taking the time to change. Madam. Prime Minister and, there is an Iowa graduate student, from Columbia, engineering, and fellow of the center of building infrastructure, and public spaces, discussions. About congestion, pricing it doesn't lose, is actually in New York City but it's also important. In inland, so. Despite. Strict social economic, arguments, from the opponent's implementation. Is still, planned. Observing. Your governmental, program released in December, 2019, there, is a full chapter about refferal transfer, taxation, with, the aim of managing. Traffic so my question is what's, your opinion about the importance, of congestion, pricing and, what will be your future steps to overcome this, political.
Issue, What. Pricing, sorry a congestion, pricing. About. Traffic, and congestion pricing. When, there's a lot of traffic, oh oh. Yeah. No I'm sorry, I. Didn't, know the word, in. English we. Do have this in our governmental program, and. And. We are now building, the lesyk legislation. That allows, cities, they. Use this kind of. What. Instruments. What. Is the word. Instruments. Congestion. Congestion. Prices. Yes yeah we're, now building a legislation, on this that, cities could use. And. Actually, it's not. There. Are the climate aspects, as as, well of course but, actually, it's more to do with the. City planning and how, we use the land do, we use it on traffic, do we use it on parking, or, do we use it on something else so I think it's more. Importantly, question, of land use and the use, of city. Property. And. The city land. So, there are these two sites it's not the most effective. Way on tackling climate change of, course it impacts. Impacts. On this as well if the, people will have choices. That, they can make for example better, public, transportation. And if we would use the. Money from, from this to, public transportation, then. It would have, significant. Climate impact as well. Oh sorry. Um. First. Of all good evening and hi nice to meet you my name is Gabriella, grace McAlpin, I go to New York Harbor High School on Governors Island I am, 15 years old and I am a sophomore and this. Rolls into my question first. Of all your, your, presentation, absolutely, wonderful the, more and more I hear about Finland's. Finland, spill and for greener lifestyle, more, inclusive, government everything. I'm hearing on, mice, because obviously I'm, from New York obviously from here what. I hear from you it sounds like a utopia because everything. Because. Everything I'm, hearing is so. I remember, think I have social media from local, like politics, like. More greener lifestyle, more inclusive, getting more people listening, to our people, sorry, listening, to our communities, they, make it seem as if it's an impossible task like, they always bring money into it like oh we can't do this we can't do that but how, you know. Like you said you're leaving by example, and everything you're saying it seems plausible everything. Seems possible so what, my. Question is how, did you achieve all, of how did she receive all of this I. Didn't. I don't mean to be funny it, was just like I'm. It's. Like with, a country. With a country like ours where. We are a strong, country whatever we always talk about no we're. A Democratic Society so, we say but, we don't really listen to our communities, and I'd. Say I don't want to say anything mean about anyone, but, we. Don't really we. Learn they're, being led by leaders. How. Is it possible, yeah yeah, thank. Yeah it, is possible it, is possible it's. Been possible, in Finland it can, be possible everywhere.
Else. But. It. Needs people. To act people, want better. Lies people to want better societies. People to vote if. You don't vote then. It. Would be impossible, so. It's. Very important, that we. Don't see it as a utopia. Because, we Finland was a poor country we. Did have very we. Have had, very, hard. Historic. With. Civil, war and with with. War. With Russia and we, have have, had very, difficult history. In Finland but, we have built a society nevertheless. Because. We have. The. Political parties, in Finland has chosen to. Go to, a better direction. My party the Social Democratic, Party. Has. Has built the, Nordic welfare state, model, together. With the centre party in, Finland, and all. The other parties that have been or. Have, come, later on supporting. The Nordic, welfare state, and actually the Social Democratic, Party has done, this in. All. Across, Nordic, countries. So. Parties. And leaders need, to have ideas, and. And. I deal, with them and, then. We, need pragmatic. Solutions, how we can build, those. Idealisms. In. To concrete. Legislations. And in concrete. Decisions. And actually, I think that, it helps, us that we have have, had coalition, governments, because, nowadays in Finland I think. Almost, all the parties, or all, the parties, from the left-wing, parties that the right-wing parties, all, agree, that the, Nordic welfare state, is a good social model, so, there isn't a bit divided, on this, issue and I think that. The. System that we have in. In decision-making and, in in politics, also helps us to have continuing. In, society. And that. We don't have such a big polarization. Than, maybe, in. Countries, with two-party system but. Of course every country. Situation, is different but it all starts. From the men demanding. Of, individuals. Of, peoples. And people's, choices and, voting. But, they can support the. Political ideas, of poor. Days and of politicians. And. Also. In the crowd grass. Root movements. Grasses. Yeah agent yeah, so. I just thought that maybe I said it from grassroots in the grassroots yes yeah, thank. You I apologize, time. Has has gotten away from from me we have time only for one more question. Please. Hi. I'm, Gloria I'm an architect, I work here in the university, I'm honored. To have you here my. Question is where, does they farm, animal. Industry. Feed into your carbon, neutral plan. You're, meaning the, food production. You're. Involving, animals. Well. Of. Course we need to change, our aquaculture, system. The more sustainable one. And. Big. Part of this is actually European. Union funding, because. European, Union, has. Funding. Systems. Agricultural. That is big. Impact, on the agricultural. Systems of each country, so I think. We. Need. Also. Change, in the European Union level so, we can change our cultural. System the more sustainable ones. Of. Course it matters what, we eat it. Matters, what. You consume, it. Matters what you eat I've been vegetarian myself. Ever since I got into politics, in.
2008. Ever since, I was first. Running. For office in the tambour City Council my hometown, and. I decided, that if. I'm speaking. One thing I should also act, accordingly. So, we all know that. The. Choices, that we made make. Have. An impact. But. Not all animal. Production is. Bad. Of course. We have the system animal models there also and, we have have. Many. Cultural. Businesses. Or businesses. That. Are actually. Making. Their. Work, in, a very sustainable way, so there, are variation, there and we, need to promote those. Who, are doing it right. And who are doing it sustainable. Thank. You so much we. Are honored, that you came to see us here at Columbia University. And we. Just want to thank, you for your time and all. Best wishes on, your travels, and your work thank, you very much.
2020-03-08