Minister of Finance Lintilä: Import ban on Brazilian beef to be investigated

Minister of Finance Mika Lintilä condemns the destruction of Amazon’s rainforests and proposes that the European Union and Finland promptly investigate the possibilities of imposing a ban on Brazilian beef imports.

Minister Lintilä and his Chilean counterpart are co-leading the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. The goal of the cooperation is to harness the input of the ministries of finance and fiscal policy tools to combat climate change.

“The coalition seeks to promote more effective ways to address climate change. The fields of responsibility of ministers of finance include many guidance instruments that can be used to mitigate climate change, such as carbon pricing, fiscal planning, and management of public investments and procurement. There is a risk that these measures will become useless, if carbon sinks are systematically destroyed in some parts of the world and we do not have the means to respond to destructive events that accelerate climate change,” Minister Lintilä says.

“Effective measures are now required from the EU. In my capacity as chair of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, I am prepared to raise the matter for discussion with the EU finance ministers when they arrive for our meeting in Helsinki in September, if progress has not been made before then,” he adds

The EU’s finance ministers will meet Minister of Finance Lintilä in Finland, the current Presidency of the Council of the EU at an informal meeting of the economic and financial affairs ministers of EU member states on 13–14 September.

Inquiries:

Niina Nurkkala, Special Adviser to the Minister, tel. +358 50 347 2661, [email protected]