The prolonged financial crisis that began in 2008 has
evidently affected the environment in Finland, according to a report on the
State of the Environment in Finland in 2013 freshly published by the Finnish
Environment Institute (SYKE). The impacts of the economic downturn have been
both positive and negative. The recession has reduced the use of natural
resources and eased other burdens on the environment, but many environmental
policy processes have slowed, including international action on climate issues.