The age of impact economics has arrived and it is reshaping the business landscape. Customers expect companies to not just act ethically, but to take a role at the forefront of the challenges facing society, particularly climate change, social injustice and human rights. Investors are increasingly looking for impact in addition to financial gain. Instruments like the SDGs and the ten principles of the UN Global Compact provide a roadmap for what society needs from the business world if we are to solve the problems facing the world.
28.10.2020
Lawyers Supporting the Impact Revolution
Sakari Lukinmaa & Anna Kuusniemi-Laine
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What does this mean for the legal profession? The rapid changes in business require a new mindset from lawyers.
The legal profession traditionally tends to look inwards, focusing on the problems and risks inherent in a business, but by shifting our perspective outwards and forwards, lawyers are ideally placed to find new legal solutions that can create genuine impact.
For example, impact investing and impact funds are already gaining a foothold, using private capital to not only pursue a profit, but also measurable benefits for society. In the energy sector, decarbonisation projects need new contractual structures.
As lawyers, we can make the biggest difference by helping our clients develop their own sustainability. To do that most effectively, we have to understand the demands that sustainability put on our clients inside and out. To us, that means that we can’t just talk the talk, we have to walk the walk.
At the beginning of 2020, Castrén & Snellman became the first Finnish law firm to join the UN Global Compact. We have also calculated our carbon footprint as the foundation for a significant reduction in our emissions. Our key sustainability goals are to promote equality, fight climate change and promote the rule of law.
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Latest references
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We advised Neste as it signed a EUR 250 million 10-year loan with NIB. The loan will finance Neste’s investments related to research and development (R&D) in processing lower-quality feedstocks into high-quality renewable products; as well as the liquefied waste plastics (LWP) investment at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland. The R&D activities supported by the loan focus on the development of renewable solutions. These include, for example, expanding feedstock capabilities and technologies that enable the processing of new and lower-quality waste and residues into high-quality renewable end products. Part of the financing supports Neste’s liquefied waste plastics investment in Porvoo, related to upgrading low-quality plastic waste into high-quality feedstock at an industrial scale. The investment contributes to advancing circular economy solutions by enabling the use of hard-to-recycle plastic waste as a replacement for virgin fossil raw materials. The unit has an annual capacity to process up to 150,000 tonnes of liquefied waste plastic. Production ramp-up commenced in 2026.
Case published 19.8.2026
Aspo – Demerger and finance matters
We advised Aspo Plc, ESL Shipping Ltd and AtoBatC Shipping AB in relation to finance matters in connection with the demerger of Aspo, by which all the shares in ESL Shipping Ltd held by Aspo, together with the related assets and liabilities, will be transferred to a new independent company to be named ESL Shipping Group Plc. Aspo intends to apply for the shares of ESL Shipping Group to be admitted to trading on the regulated market of Nasdaq Helsinki. It is further intended that Aspo be renamed Telko Group Plc.
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Lenders and Export Credit Agencies – EUR 514.4 million green project financing for Easpring Finland New Materials’ CAM plant
We acted as Finnish law legal adviser to the lenders and the export credit agencies in connection with the EUR 514.4 million green project financing for the development and construction of Easpring Finland New Materials Oy’s cathode active material (CAM) manufacturing plant in Kotka, Finland. The borrower, Easpring Finland New Materials Oy, is a joint venture owned by Beijing Easpring Material Technology, Finnish Minerals Group and LG Energy Solution. The financing was provided by six international commercial banks, with Société Générale acting as financial adviser and mandated lead arranger together with Natixis as co-mandated lead arranger, and DNB, ICBC, ING and Standard Chartered participating as lenders, with support from the export credit agencies Finnvera and Sinosure. The project represents a significant milestone for Finland and the European battery value chain by strengthening Europe’s domestic supply of cathode active materials, a key component in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage applications. Once the first phase of the project is operational, the Kotka facility is expected to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of cathode active material annually, making it one of the largest CAM production plants in Europe and supplying leading battery manufacturers across Europe.
Case published 21.7.2026
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