Green Summit Finland 2022

The Green Summit Finland 2022 marks the inaugural event associated with our new Global Green Guide and will bring together leading practitioners and in-house counsel from across the country and region to discuss the legal sector’s contribution to a green transition. Panel discussions will address accelerating the green transition through sustainable finance as well as corporate sustainability due diligence and cooperation. Topics will include, among others, newest trends in sustainable finance, the risks of greenwashing, the role of lawyers in promoting sustainability, best practices as well as main obstacles and challenges in achieving green finance and corporate sustainability. Attendees can expect high-profile speakers, plenty of time for debate and discussion on one of the most important concerns of this century, and networking drinks to end the day.

Agenda

4.00pm
Registration

4.45pm
Welcome address and opening remarks

• Sakari Lukinmaa, managing partner, Castrén & Snellman
• Anna Bauböck, editor, The Legal 500 Global Green Guide

5.00pm
Accelerating the green transition through sustainable finance
Greening the financial system is a key component towards a sustainable future. We will address the newest trends in sustainable finance, provide a future outlook on the sustainable finance market and discuss the risks for greenwashing. Our expert panel will also explore the main obstacles to green finance, share best practices and views on how lawyers can accelerate the green transition though green finance.

• Minna Korhonen, counsel, Castrén & Snellman (chair)
• Tita Anttila, general counsel, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO)
• Maria Neovius, head of debt financing team, NREP
• Annina Tanhuanpää, director, ESG and responsibility, OP Financial Group

6.00pm
Accelerating the green transition through corporate sustainability due diligence and co-operation
A crucial element to a green transition is that companies use natural resources responsibly and invest in the long-term wellbeing of the planet. Companies identifying, preventing and mitigating environmental impacts in their operations and their supply chains is increasingly on the corporate agenda. Our panellists will discuss how climate change is reflected in the daily work of lawyers, how the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive will impact the role of lawyers in promoting sustainability and whether there should be shift from minimising risks to promoting sustainability. Our experts will share best practices and also explore opportunities for cooperation between competitors.

• Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, partner, Castrén & Snellman (chair)
• Vesa Rasinaho, senior counsel, Castrén & Snellman
• Riitta af Forselles, head of legal, M&A and corporate, Neste
• Marina Louhija, senior vice president – director, general counsel, legal affairs and administration, compliance and sustainability, Fingrid Oyj

7.00pm
Closing remarks followed by drinks reception

Speakers

Riitta af Forselles, head of legal, M&A and corporate, Neste
Riitta af Forselles leads Neste’s M&A, financing and corporate legal team. Neste is the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and renewable feedstock solutions for various polymers and chemicals industry uses. Neste’s transformation journey has taken it from being a local oil refiner to a global leader in renewable and circular solutions. Neste has made ambitious climate commitments to reduce emissions in its own production and across the full value chain and is helping its customers reduce their GHG emissions with Neste’s renewable and circular solutions. Riitta has in-depth knowledge of sustainability matters in M&A projects and joint ventures and on the financing side. She has been leading legal execution of various acquisitions in the feedstock and raw materials space as well as investments into waste plastic liquefaction technology to combat the global plastic waste challenge and to other innovative new technologies such as Power-to-X. On the financing side, in 2021 Neste launched a Green Finance Framework and issued its first €500m Green Bond. Riitta holds an LLM from the University of Helsinki.

Tita Anttila, general counsel, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO)
NEFCO is an international financial institution established by the Nordic countries in 1990. Tita Anttila joined NEFCO in August 2006 as the first in-house counsel and was appointed general counsel in April 2021. She heads NEFCO’s legal and project administration department. Prior to joining NEFCO, Tita worked for Nokia Corporation, Networks in Finland and in Russia. She has also practiced as attorney at law at Castrén & Snellman. Tita Anttila holds a master of laws degree (LLM) from the University of Helsinki.

Anna Baubock, editor, The Legal 500 Global Green Guide
Anna joined The Legal 500 in 2012 as a researcher/writer for The Legal 500 Deutschland and acted as deputy Deutschland editor for a year before being promoted to editor of the German-language guide in 2015. She has spent a considerable amount of her time visiting firms and gaining extensive market knowledge across all major cities in Germany but has in the past also researched various practice areas in the US, EMEA and Latin American legal markets, making use of her bilingual German and English as well as advanced Spanish language skills. More recently, Anna has taken over as editor of The Legal 500 US guide and has been involved in the development and launch of The Legal 500’s Global Green Guide which puts a spotlight on the legal sector’s contribution to a green transition.

Minna Korhonen, counsel, Castrén & Snellman
Minna Korhonen advises financial institutions, investors and borrowers in a wide range of domestic and cross-border transactions, including acquisition and other leveraged finance and real estate finance transactions as well as corporate lending and refinancing and sustainable finance. Sustainable finance plays a key role in mitigating climate change, as achieving the international climate targets will require allocating funds into environmentally friendly initiatives. By supporting our clients in their sustainable financing arrangements, we contribute to accelerating the green transition and sustainable development.

Anna Kuusniemi-Laine, partner, head of sustainability, Castrén & Snellman
Anna Kuusniemi-Laine oversees and develops Castrén & Snellman’s sustainability work. Driven by a strong personal interest in sustainability, her mission is to help lawyers make corporate responsibility an integral part of their work. She believes lawyers have great potential to make a positive impact in society and that they have an important role to play in the transition to a green economy. Anna is known as a first-generation EU law expert in Finland and as a specialist in public procurement, state aid and competition law, and she has long promoted sustainability in her fields of expertise. Anna is also a founding member of the Finnish Corporate Responsibility Law Association. She was appointed Castrén & Snellman’s head of sustainability in 2019.

Marina Louhija, senior vice president – director, general counsel, legal affairs and administration, compliance and sustainability, Fingrid Oyj
Marina Louhija, SVP, general counsel, head of compliance and sustainability team, is a member of the executive management board at the Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid Oyj. She leads Fingrid on legal and administrative affairs, compliance and sustainability. She is also the CEO of Fingrid’s subsidiary Finextra Oy which tasks include the power reserve service and services for the guarantees of origin for electricity. She acts as a board member at Nordic RCC AS, a company supporting the operational security of the Nordic power system, and Metropolitan Area of Transport Ltd (City Transport Ltd). She holds a LLM and an executive MBA degree.

Sakari Lukinmaa, managing partner, Castrén & Snellman
Sakari Lukinmaa is the managing partner at Castrén & Snellman, specialising in finance, private equity and venture capital. Throughout his career, Sakari has advised clients on a number of complex cross-border and domestic projects, including syndicated corporate lending, acquisition finance deals, real estate finance and restructurings as well as venture capital. As managing partner, Sakari has helped drive the green agenda in Finland, helping Castrén & Snellman’s clients build sustainable success stories, transition to a greener business and overcome ESG issues.

Maria Neovius, head of debt financing team, NREP
Maria Neovius joined NREP in November 2020 as head of debt financing team, NREP. She leads NREP’s global debt finance team. Prior to joining NREP, Neovius served as general counsel and member of the management team of Finnish Minerals Group for two years. She practiced as a lawyer at Dittmar & Indrenius and Hannes Snellman and as a partner in the banking and financing team in Helsinki. Neovius holds a master’s degree in law (Helsinki University) and is currently taking part in a eMBA program at Hanken & SSE Executive Education (Helsinki).

Vesa Rasinaho, Senior Counsel, Castrén & Snellman
Vesa Rasinaho is a seasoned expert in corporate governance and corporate law. He handles all kinds of corporate law assignments from mergers and demergers to equity financing through corporate disputes. Rasinaho knows Finland’s corporate law like the back of his hand: he acted as the secretary of the working group for the revision of the Limited Liability Companies Act, and he participated in drafting the current act. He is also the co-author of one of the leading legal commentaries regarding the act. Rasinaho chairs the Finnish Corporate Law Association.

Annina Tanhuanpää, director, ESG and responsibility, OP Financial Group
Annina Tanhuanpää is a director, ESG and corporate responsibility, in OP Financial Group. She is responsible for the group-wide ESG and sustainability strategy and leads OP Financial Group’s external engagements, such as reporting in accordance with GRI, CPD, Global Compact and commitments towards UNEPFI Principles for Responsible Banking and TCFD. Member of the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board, chairperson of the OP Financial Group ESG committee and member of OP Corporate Bank plc’s executive management team.

Agenda