Majority Finns see fight against climate crisis as one of key themes

The majority of Finns consider that Finland can improve its competitiveness by investing in climate solutions and new kinds of competencies, according to Climate Barometer 2023 published by the government on Monday.

Besides climate change, biodiversity loss has emerged as a serious environmental crisis, and the majority of the people are of the opinion that solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss should be sought as a whole, said a government press release referring to the barometer.

About 61% Finns hope that the fight against the climate crisis will be one of the key themes of the next government term. This is despite the fact that many people are also concerned about Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, rising prices and energy issues.

Major investments in the green transition are being planned in Finland. The majority (79%) of the respondents believe that Finland can improve its competitiveness by investing in climate change mitigation e.g. by developing competence and new technological solutions.

Although the climate crisis is seen as a serious threat, the majority of Finns see opportunities in climate solutions: 68% of the respondents consider that climate-sustainable and climate change resilient solutions improve people’s wellbeing in Finland.

The survey carried out by Kantar Public, commissioned by the Steering Group for Central Government Climate Communications.

The Climate Barometer 2023 survey was conducted to find out the views of the Finns on climate change and climate policy before the general elections.

Number of people with positive attitude towards climate action has decreased

The aim of the survey was to find out how the views of the Finns on climate issues have changed compared to the previous Climate Barometers. The questions asked have been about the same since 2015.

A similar survey was last conducted before the 2019 parliamentary elections, when the fight against climate change was considered even more important: at that time, 70% of Finns hoped that solutions to the climate crisis would be one of the Government’s key themes.

In 2019, 44% of the respondents said that in the parliamentary elections they will vote for a candidate who is working actively to mitigate climate change. Now this figure is 32%.

The respondents are clearly divided in climate issues. The attitudes are the most positive among the young, women, people with higher education, and the supporters of the ruling Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP), Vihreä Liitto (Green League) and Vasemmistoliitto (Left Alliance).

The supporters of the opposition Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party), the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) and ruling Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) consider climate actions as less important.

The division between regions is also clear. Those living in the Greater Helsinki area are more in favour of climate action than those living in rural areas.

Links between climate change and biodiversity loss recognised

For the first time, the survey asked about the links between climate change and biodiversity loss. As many as 79% of the respondents consider that solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss should be sought as a whole. 64% of the respondents consider that the Finnish Government should be more active in its efforts to halt biodiversity loss.

Preserving the forest carbon sinks is still considered important: 71% of the respondents hope that more attention would be paid to forest harvesting volumes and management practices in order to preserve carbon sinks. However, this is 12 percentage points less than in 2019.

Energy savings to boost climate solutions

The survey shows that major steps forward have been taken in energy savings: 74% of the respondents are willing to consume less energy when the demand is the highest. This is clearly higher than in 2019, when this figure was 62%.

About 67% of the respondents also report that they have reduced electricity and heat consumption. 73% of the respondents consider that municipalities should speed up the transition to a sustainable energy system, such as one based on wind power, solar energy or hydropower.

“This winter, large numbers of Finns have made fantastic efforts to save energy. Now we should move on to more permanent energy actions, that is, continue renovations that improve the energy-efficiency of people’s homes in the long term and invest in non-fossil heating systems. These energy savings show that we can change our habits quickly, which is an absolute necessity to mitigate climate change,” said Expert Päivi Suur-Uski from Motiva.

Half of Finns make climate-sustainable choices in their everyday lives

About 52% of the respondents reported that they make climate-sustainable choices and that making them is easy. 52% also told that the everyday environment supports making climate-sustainable choices.

“It is most gratifying that more than half of the respondents found it easy to make climate-sustainable choices. Finns have been encouraged to halve their carbon footprint, but in the past couple of decades such a major change has not yet taken place. To mainstream climate-sustainable everyday life, more action is needed in housing, mobility, eating and the consumption of other goods and services,” said Marja Salo, Senior Research Scientist at the Finnish Environment Institute.

About 43% of the respondents reported that they had reduced their purchases of goods for climate reasons. More than a third (35%) had reduced the use of cars and increased the use of sustainable modes of mobility, such as walking, cycling or public transport. In 2019, the figure for those who had reduced the use of cars was clearly higher (43%).

A total of 1,043 respondents aged 15 to 74 years from different parts of Finland, except for the Åland Islands, participated in the survey. The margin of error is about 3 percentage points in either direction.