Biofore-Magazine-2021

By Kenneth Råman Photography UPM

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TECH HUB

MONEY TALKS

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“Normally, the process of creating a satellite takes a couple of years or at least 18 months, but we only started six months ago. We have a lot of experience creating devices like this, but that does not stopme fromthinking of all the things that could gowrong,” he admits. “Anyway, the plywood parts of the satel lite are not my main concern – they have behaved extremely well throughout the process!” When launched, the WISA Woodsat will be deployed by rocket to an orbit 550 kilometres above our planet. Travelling at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour, it will take about 90 minutes for it to travel around the Earth. While the satel lite can theoretically stay in the orbit for a decade, Mäkinen says he is prepared for a lifetime of about two years, which is enough to complete the experiment as most of the outgassing will occur during that time. Everybody’s mission Mäkinen expects to get a signal from the satellite soon after launch. “If all is well and operating, the camera boom has opened as planned, and the antennas are out, we should be able to get the first test photos andmeasurements in no time. “Throughout the mission, the photos and data will be shared on our website and social media. Occasionally, special campaigns will be organised, during which partner ground stations can also beamdown photos locally,”Mäkinen says. In addition, the satellite has a treat in store for all geocach ers: if you know what you are looking for, you can find the se

structing optics or harming the electronics. To stop this from happening, the team is testing out two types of protection. The first method is a traditional industrial lacquer that is ap plied to the satellite’s wooden surface. The second is a futuris ticmethod called ALD, or Atomic Layer Deposition, used nor mally for electronics andmetals. The latter has created a buzz, as themethod has potential uses beyond spacecraft. Watching an experiment unfold To document and reveal any changes in the colouring, or cracks thatmight occur in the surface, the satellite is equipped with a selfie stick made of 3D-printed metal. The camera has a flashlight for night photography, and the satellite sports a colour calibration card to ensure proper balancing of the col ours. The insides of the satellite will bemonitored through an instrument suite provided by the ESA, while other sensors measure the effects of atomic oxygen. The results from the experiment will be invaluable to the ESA and the global space community, as plywood could po tentially replace the use of some carbon fibre and other more toxic materials in the future, making space technology more sustainable. A test model of the satellite completed a successful strato spheric flight in June 2021, and the assembly of the actual sat ellite is ongoing. The plan is to launch in 2022 fromNew Zea land. So far, practically everything has been a success, which makesMäkinen both excited and worried.

W e are in a unique position to advance a circular bioecon omy and take the world towards a future beyond fossils. Responsibility is integrated into our strategy as a solid foundation for long-termvalue creation. Responsibility also plays an important role in our financing and gives debt investors a great opportunity to promote activities, such as climate changemitigation and the UNSustainable Development Goals, together with us. Mitigating climate change requires swift actions. One key step is to reduce the use of fossil rawmaterials. There is no doubt that we need to change the way we produce and consume things and to steer funding to sustainable investments. The finance sector can also do its part, through instruments such as green bonds. They are fixed-income instruments designed specially to finance climate-related and environmental pro jects. For companies such as UPM, issuing green bonds brings benefits by offering an opportunity to make our sustainability agenda known to an even wider audience while reaching a new and rapidly growing group of bond investors who focus on sustainability. The larger investor base can also bring advantages to the pricing of these bonds – the so-called “greenium” – reducing the overall financing cost for the company. This makes the extra effort needed for the required transparency and report ing well worth it, not tomention the economic point of view. To enable us to issue green bonds, we established a Green Finance Framework in November 2020. The framework is based on the Interna tional Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Principles, which are guide lines that outline the expected transparency requirements and promote integrity in the development of the Green Bondmarket. Our framework has been reviewed and validated by an independent external second-party opinion provider, and it encompasses debt instru ments where funds are dedicated to defined green activities and invest

cret logging code for the TB9GB8G Travel Bug. Mäkinen says that this will be the third-ever space-faring Travel Bug. The first is at the International Space Station and another is hidden in the Perseverance rover onMars. When the project is over, the plan is to analyse thewhole life cycle of the plywood satellite and compare its performance with more traditional materials. That, in turn, will determine plywood’s role in tak ing humanity to space. “Sometimes it’s just easier to use metal or carbon fibre but if plywood turns out to be as good, then why not use that?We will see. That’s what this experiment is for,” saysMäkinen contemplatively. “Plywood could potentially replace the use of some carbon fibre and other more toxic materials in the future.”

Green Bonds mitigating climate change

ments. We have since issued two green bonds under the framework: a EUR 750 million bond in Novem ber 2020andaEUR500millionbond inMarch2021. Part of the transparency expected by the green bond principles is the annual publication of a re port highlighting the information on how the funds raised by issuing the bonds were used and the ensu ing positive impacts – for instance, the CO 2 reduc tions/EUR 1million achieved.We published our first Green Bond report in April 2021 with detailed allo cation information and the environmental impacts of the first green bond. Of this EUR 750 million bond, 90% was allocat ed to sustainable forest management, including the carrying value of forest land and sustainable forest management costs. The remaining 10% was allo cated to finance climate-positive products and solu

Responsibility plays an important role in UPM’s financing.

A “good” business acts and does things responsibly and is rewarded for it.

tions, which are the research and development costs of biochemicals, biocomposites, biofuels and biomedicals. The impacts measured were hectares of certified forests, the carbon sink of UPM’s certified forests, the positive impact on biodiversity and the number of patents and trade marks related to our bio-businesses. The bottom line is that sustainable businesses like UPM are all about having an overall positive impact. A “good” business acts and does things responsibly and is rewarded for it. We want to run our business in a sus tainable way and enable our customers and stakeholders to make more sustainable choices. For us at UPMTreasury, it has been rewarding to be able to do our part in achieving this.

The WISA Woodsat satellite has raised hopes that space exploration could become more sustainable.

Kenneth Råman, Senior Vice President, UPM Treasury and Risk Management