Almost half of people in Finland approve of measures to mitigate climate change – even if it means additional costs for themselves, according to a survey published by the newspaper group Uutissuomalainen (USU) on Saturday.
The poll found that 48 percent of respondents would be prepared to pay more for efforts to rein in climate change, even if they result in higher costs of everyday living. Thirty-two percent said no, while about 20 percent were undecided or declined to state their views.
Jyri Seppälä, chair of the Finnish Climate Change Panel, told USU that the results were not surprising.
"Finns are highly conscious of climate change [as indicated by] an EU-wide survey on the topic. Most Finns want us to do our part in climate efforts,” he said.
Men more wary of climate costs
Women are slightly more prepared to compromise their own standard of living than men, with 41 percent of men and 23 percent of women saying they do not support climate measures that increase day-to-day costs.
"These ‘no’ answers support the old assumption that women are more concerned about preserving life in the future than men," Seppälä noted. In his assessment, many men may see controlling climate change as primarily being the responsibility of industry and the state.
Meanwhile older people are more ready to incur extra costs than younger ones, the survey suggests, with acceptance from just over half of those aged 60 or more.
"Younger people usually don't have a lot of money, while parents may be thinking about what kind of world they will leave to their children and grandchildren," Seppälä pointed out.
The results of the USU poll also indicate that individuals with higher education level are more likely to accept higher costs in order to combat global warming and other climate-related changes.
Seppälä suggested that the poll results might be different if climate measures were funded by raising overall taxes rather than mostly raising the cost of fossil fuel usage, noting that climate costs are not necessarily being shared fairly.
Eastern Finland active in climate efforts
Residents of Eastern Finland are more accepting of climate costs than those in western parts of the country.
"Eastern Finland has been very active in mitigating climate change, for example, the cities of Lappeenranta and Joensuu and their surrounding municipalities," said Seppälä.
The highest level of acceptance was in Uusimaa, the populous southern region that includes the Helsinki metropolitan area. There, only a quarter of residents oppose actions that would affect their standard of living. In Seppälä's view, this can be explained by Uusimaa’s higher level of education and wealth compared to the rest of the country.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest support for climate measures was among backers of the opposition Green and Left Alliance parties, while the lowest was among supporters of the populist Finns Party, one of the two main government parties.
About 1,000 people in Finland responded to the USU survey, which was conducted by pollster Tietoykkönen between 9 and 30 July. The survey’s margin of error is 3.1 percentage points.
Seppälä, a professor at the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), was appointed by the government last autumn for a four-year term at the helm of the Climate Panel, which is made up of 15 researchers from universities and research institutes. He has been a member of the independent scientific expert body since its inception in 2011.
A government report released earlier this summer said that stronger measures are needed for Finland to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.
PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) has reiterated the cabinet’s commitment to that target, but Finns Party leader and Finance Minister Riikka Purra, last year described the goal as "extremely stupid".
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