Biography
A proud Finnish fisherman, Tero Mustonen is fiercely committed to safeguarding the boreal and Arctic ecosystems, especially peatlands, which play a pivotal role in climate stability and resilience for Arctic communities. As the founder and president of Snowchange Cooperative, a Finland-based organization, he has built a vast network of community partners across the Arctic and boreal regions, working to mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity, and preserve the traditional and Indigenous knowledge that is vital to these ecosystems.
Tero is also an accomplished environmental scientist. He is an adjunct professor of geography at the University of Eastern Finland and has authored over 160 publications. He has notably contributed to climate science, including serving as the lead author for the Sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment. His expertise spans qualitative analysis, sustainability management, climate change, biodiversity, ethnography, and cultural studies.
In 2018, Tero and Snowchange launched an ambitious landscape rewilding project to address the degradation of Finland’s peatlands. That program has now grown from eight sites covering 500 hectares in 2018 to 124 sites, positively impacting up to 55,000 hectares in 2024. These restored peatlands have regained their natural function as major carbon sinks, showing the immense potential of rewilding as a tool for climate mitigation. His work in this area earned him the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2023.
Tero’s deep connection to the natural world was forged in the boreal landscapes of Finland, where he was raised near Tampere. From a young age, he spent his days fishing with his father and camping in Northern Finland during the summers. “I think I have been shaped by these landscapes and lakes as they taught me how to be with them, rather than any ideological environmentalist,” Tero reflected, underscoring how his life’s work is rooted in personal connection to the land.
Today, Tero lives in the small Finnish boreal village of Selkie with his wife and their goats. He enjoys painting, writing poetry, and immersing himself in Finnish traditional knowledge and epic poetry.
He draws inspiration from the old professional fishermen who raised him and the values of land-based life that they instilled. For him, climate action must be just and equitable, addressing the root causes of environmental degradation with solutions that reform humanity’s relationship with the land.
“We cannot solve the problems with the same tools that created them.”
Breakthrough program
Tero Mustonen was selected for the Climate Breakthrough Award program in 2024.
The Arctic peatland ecosystems are crucial for mitigating climate change. It’s estimated the northern hemisphere’s frozen soils and peatlands hold about 1,700 billion tonnes of carbon—four times more than humans have emitted since the industrial revolution and twice as much as is currently in the atmosphere. Despite this, there has been limited attention and investment going to Arctic and boreal solutions.
Tero wants to kick off an ambitious effort that builds upon, but significantly expands, Snowchange’s rewilding efforts. His vision is to establish “restoration hubs” in key regions: the European North; Minnesota and Alaska, US; and the Hudson Bay ecoregion of Ontario, Canada.
In each of these regions, Tero will leverage his extensive relationships with local and Indigenous communities to develop and implement tailored plans for restoring and conserving peatlands. Through these targeted restoration efforts, he envisions seeding a circumpolar-wide movement that will protect and renew the planet’s cooling mechanisms and climate stability.
“We need to keep the lid on the world, the boreal, and the Arctic cooling the planet. Peatlands are one of the best ways to do that.”
