Sweden and Finland’s Forestry Plea Exposes Capitalism’s Fatal Flaw

By Jack Jardine – Environmental PR Strategist & Founder of SEET Sweden and Finland’s Forestry Plea Exposes Capitalism’s Fatal Flaw

Sweden and Finland’s Forestry Plea Exposes Capitalism’s Fatal Flaw

The Reuters piece by Simon Johnson was titled “Sweden and Finland urge revision of EU’s forestry climate targets.” A straightforward headline. But inside the article, the framing immediately tilts toward “dire economic consequences.” That is the hook. That is the emphasis. And yet what was left to a single sentence halfway through, almost as an afterthought, is the real story: monocultures, over-logging, and the hard truth that Europe’s forests are failing to absorb carbon because of the way industry has managed them.

The globe is racing toward net zero. No one said it would be easy. But if we keep pitting environmental survival against economic comfort, let me be clear: the environment must win.

Economics vs. Existence

For centuries the Earth stood unbroken. Forests, oceans, and ecosystems thrived until humans began extracting resources at a scale that capitalism demanded. Capitalism has always been conquest in disguise. A male coded system of subjugation, exploitation, and colonial extraction. It thrives on short term profit while ignoring long-term survival.

So when governments cry that climate rules will “destroy the economy,” I see the PR play immediately. They are setting up a scapegoat. If jobs are lost in forestry, blame the EU. Blame environmental protections. But do not blame the governments who built their economies on overdependence on timber exports, monoculture practices, and a refusal to diversify.

Let us get one thing straight: the Earth did not design Sweden and Finland’s economies. Their governments did. Their industries did. The failure to prepare for transition is political, not planetary.

The Real Question

We should not be asking whether to protect jobs or protect the environment. The real question is: how quickly do you want to accelerate the destruction of the Earth? Because that is what choosing the economy over ecology actually means.

And let us remember: economies cannot exist on a dead planet. The very argument that restrictions on logging will kill growth ignores the bigger reality: unchecked extraction will kill everything, including economic systems.

The Way Forward

I am not naïve. Humanity has added billions to its population in the past 400 years compared to millions over millions of years before the industrial era. We cannot simply stop producing or manufacturing. But we can demand governments build economies that do not rely on destroying the ecosystems that sustain us.

That means:

• Diversification - Forestry towns cannot live or die on one industry. Governments must invest in alternative livelihoods before crisis hits, not after.

• Regulation with teeth - Do not just set arbitrary absorption targets. Create enforceable frameworks that drive sustainable land use and reward practices that restore, not deplete, ecosystems.

• Behavioural change at scale - From boardrooms to communities, environmental responsibility must become embedded culture, not a PR slogan.

  
  

This is the kind of structural change I focus on through SEET, the initiative I founded to help organisations align environmental responsibility with reputation and resilience. These issues cannot be solved with press releases or short-term political fixes. They demand behavioural change and communications that embed sustainability at every level.

Do Not Be Fooled by the Narrative

Let us not allow elected governments to wash their hands of responsibility. If industries collapse under the weight of climate targets, that is not the fault of the environment. It is the fault of governments who refused to prepare, who clung to capitalism’s chokehold, and who built economies on exploitation instead of resilience.

This is not a choice between economy and environment. It is a choice between clinging to outdated systems that are killing us, or demanding a new model that protects both people and the planet.

Because companies and countries that lead on equity will also lead on resilience.

Sweden and Finland’s Forestry Plea Exposes Capitalism’s Fatal Flaw - Written by Jack Jardine, Founder of SEET, Envornmental Advocate specializing in behavioural change