India and Finland Expand Circular Economy Partnership during the visit of Minister Sari Multala at WCEF 2026
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, recently hosted the 10th World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) 2026 from 15 to 18 September. This marked the first time the premier global environmental event took place in South Asia. The forum highlighted a growing, practical India-Finland green partnership.
Finland’s Minister of Climate and the Environment, Sari Multala, and India’s Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, used the event to discuss shared goals for resource-efficient economic growth. Backed by a EUR 120 million financial commitment from Finland and open discussions on international trade, this bilateral relationship is shifting from environmental theory to concrete business investments.
A Perfect Match of Scale and Innovation
The collaboration between the two nations works well because they bring different strengths to the table. Finland has spent years pioneering green policies and was one of the first countries to create a national circular-economy roadmap. India, on the other hand, offers the massive industrial and demographic scale needed to make these policies impactful on a global level.
Today, more than 100 Finnish companies operate in India, focusing on clean energy, sustainable design, and waste management.
For Finland, India is a crucial market. Minister Multala pointed out that sustainability must start with product design and urban planning, long before materials are thrown away. Because Finland’s home market is relatively small, India provides the perfect space to take proven Finnish ideas and turn them into large-scale commercial success stories.
Trade, Tariffs, and Climate Goals
As developing economies build greener infrastructure, climate policies often clash with international trade. During her visit, Minister Multala addressed concerns regarding international climate duties. She stated clearly that it is important that the European Union listens to India's concerns regarding the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Rather than treating climate action as an economic hurdle, Multala suggested it is a strategic business opportunity. She noted that climate mitigation should increasingly be viewed as business as usual. Predictable environmental policies give foreign investors the long-term certainty they need to fund projects in India, which helps create clean-technology jobs. She also mentioned that an upcoming EU-India trade agreement would help ease these transitions and reduce the risk of tariffs overburdening developing economies.
Funding the Green Shift
For India, the shift to a circular economy builds on historical traditions. Union Minister Bhupender Yadav noted that circularity is essentially a new way of looking at an old wisdom, relying on long-standing cultural habits of repairing and reusing items instead of throwing them away. Upgrading and expanding these practices takes serious financial backing.
During the forum, Finland announced a EUR 120 million investment in the new Finland-IFC Blended Finance Program. Prepared by Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs alongside the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, this is the largest development policy investment the Finnish ministry has ever made.
Set to launch in 2027, the programme is designed to encourage private-sector funding for sustainable projects in emerging markets, focusing on areas like energy networks and digital infrastructure.
From Ideas to Real-World Action
The main takeaway from the Gandhinagar meetings is that talk must now lead to action. Speaking to over 2,000 stakeholders from more than 65 countries, Minister Multala delivered a straightforward message. She stressed that ideas need to become investments, pilot programmes must turn into established markets, and successful innovations should be scaled up rapidly.
Through open dialogue on trade, shared corporate expertise, and significant financial commitments, India and Finland are building a highly practical relationship. By matching their distinct strengths, they are showing how countries can work together to build a more sustainable global economy.
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