Public policy: working with governments on climate, biodiversity, and circularity objectives
Stora Enso engages and collaborates with governments, regulators, legislators, businesses, and industry associations to achieve a stable policy environment that supports climate, biodiversity, and circular economy.
With strong Nordic roots and a presence in more than 30 countries, we aim to be a constructive partner to policymakers at national, EU, and global level to promote the much-needed green transition.
We strongly support the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework, and have set ambitious targets to advance climate action, biodiversity restoration, and a circular bioeconomy. Our engagement therefore focuses on climate change, biodiversity, and circularity — areas central to both our business and the green transition.
We work through relevant regional, national, and international trade associations and membership organisations. We continuously monitor and evaluate public policy and political direction to anticipate possible regulatory changes in the areas that are of particular importance to our business and operations.
Stora Enso’s Corporate and Regulatory Affairs team also works more directly with stakeholders to craft regulatory and public policies that drive this transition through innovation and economic growth. The goal is to help shape a regulatory framework that supports climate, biodiversity, and circular economy objectives.
Climate change
Climate action cannot wait. As a global provider of wood-based materials, combating climate change is at the core of Stora Enso’s business. Growing trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, and their fibres store carbon in wood-based products during use and through recycling. When sourced from responsibly managed forests, products made from wood-based materials can replace non-renewable alternatives—often referred to as the substitution effect.
To help achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, we advocate for policies that recognise the contribution of renewable materials to reducing fossil emissions. We also welcome and support the EU’s ambition to reach net zero by 2050 and to reduce EU emissions by at least 90% by 2040.
Forests & biodiversity
Healthy, resilient forests are essential for climate action, biodiversity, and the long-term availability of renewable raw materials. Climate change is already putting forests and ecosystems under pressure, making active, science-based, and locally adapted forest management more important than ever. Forests that are sustainably managed and regenerated can continue to grow, store carbon, support biodiversity, and provide renewable materials that replace fossil-based alternatives.
We welcome global and EU ambitions to prevent deforestation, protect and restore biodiversity, strengthen ecosystem resilience, and secure the ecosystem services society depends on. At the same time, these efforts should support a sustainable bioeconomy. Forest protection, sustainable wood production, carbon storage, and other ecosystem services are not mutually exclusive; with locally relevant practices and science-based policies, they can reinforce each other.
Circularity
A truly circular economy must keep materials in use for as long as possible while accelerating the shift away from fossil resources. This means improving recycling and secondary raw-material markets, but also recognising the role of renewable, circular materials that can be replenished through biological growth cycles and that can reduce dependence on fossil-based alternatives. Bio-based materials can support the transition to a circular economy by improving resource efficiency and helping reduce emissions. This is especially true when they come from responsibly managed forests that are regenerated after harvesting, with forest health, biodiversity, and productivity safeguarded.
We welcome the global transition to a circular economy, including measures that minimise waste, improve circular design, and strengthen markets for secondary raw materials. For packaging, greater circularity depends on advancing both recyclability and renewability together. Paper-based packaging is widely collected and recycled in many markets, although recycling performance varies by region and collection infrastructure. This leaves room for improvement, as higher waste collection rates can help to boost recycling. This would help keep more paper-based packaging in circulation for longer, while renewable raw materials help reduce dependence on fossil resources. Circular economy policy should be evidence-based and outcome-oriented, promoting reuse, recycling, and the uptake of renewable materials where they deliver the best environmental result.
Public disclosure and transparency
Stora Enso is part of the European Union’s Transparency Register (Register ID: 269853831446-79), which is available to the public. Our position papers and responses are uploaded and available by searching for Stora Enso Oyj or through this link: Transparency Register (europa.eu). We also report in line with the Finnish Transparency Register and in due course will do so under the forthcoming Swedish Transparency Register. In addition, we regularly update the financial disclosure for Group Corporate Affairs, which includes our global, national and EU-related costs. Information regarding main trade association memberships, as well as some basic material on key policy interests, which main EU legislative proposals or policies are targeted by us, as well as communication activities related to EU policies can also be found in the EU register.
