Green Development of Greenwashing? Environmental Humanities of Finland

Greenwashing or Green Development? Environmental Histories of Finland. Cover.

Greenwashing or Green Development? Environmental Histories of Finland. Cover.

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Pál, Viktor, Tuomas Räsänen, and Mikko Saikku, eds. Green Development or Greenwashing? Environmental Histories of Finland. Winwick: The White Horse Press, 2023.

Finland has often been labelled a  “green superpower,” lauded as one of the world’s cleanest and greenest countries. Nordic countries in general have tended to be idealised as “pristine and green,” in contrast to the rest of the rapidly contaminating world where the race for markets and profits has enormously accelerated consumption, imposing on the environment an alarming level of extraction and commerce, and a wide array of new and old forms of pollution. 

Environmental historians, however, can perceive that the reputed “greenness” of the Nordic countries is partly an illusion. Authors in this volume argue that Finland, similarly to Denmark, Norway and Sweden, has evolved into a green superpower at the cost of considerable environmental problems. Ironically, Finland’s current leading position in sustainable development has been built on the heavy use of natural resources and by sacrificing ecosystem health. (Source: The White Horse Press)

© 2023 The White Horse Press.

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