The results are not particularly surprising, in retrospect Pekka Jokinenprofessor of environmental policy at the University of Tampere.
“Climate awareness is constantly increasing and penetrating society more thoroughly than, for example, five years ago,” he told the newspaper, referring to the emergence of climate political debate in all sectors of society – including the economy.
Other factors have also influenced the matter.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fueled calls to speed up the green transition and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. More and more decision-makers also see an ambitious climate policy as a potential benefit due to its possible effects on energy self-sufficiency, new investments and export products.
Jokinen told Helsingin Sanomat that the answers could be different if the questions in the survey addressed certain dimensions of consumption in more detail. “If you were to ask about fuels, there would also be dissatisfaction and protest potential,” he estimated.
For the first time, the biennial survey included a wider range of questions about biodiversity loss and found – perhaps surprisingly – that the public is, on average, more concerned about biodiversity loss than the climate crisis.
While 12 percent of respondents said they were very concerned and 34 percent somewhat concerned about biodiversity loss, the corresponding proportions for climate change were nine and 36. Yet more than half of respondents were not concerned or not particularly concerned about either. loss of biological diversity (51%) or climate change (53%).
In the survey, women’s answers were more environmentally friendly than men’s. For example, 29 percent of women and 51 percent of men felt that forests should be managed in a way that creates jobs, even at the expense of forest nature.
It is an internationally recognized fact that women support environmental protection more than men, according to Jokinen.
“There is an absolutely systematic difference that is mentioned even in the basic textbooks of the field,” he told the newspaper, admitting that the cause of the phenomenon remains a mystery. “It is more difficult to explain than other influencing factors. For example, age is a more logical factor through an individual’s interests.”
Younger generations are typically more concerned about the climate crisis and demand more action to combat it than older generations, as they have to live with its consequences longer on average.
Kantar Public interviewed 1,054 people for the survey between 20 and 26 January.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page
