Poll: Finns willing to curb consumption to slow climate change
Nearly all interested in recycling and sorting waste
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Most Finns are ready to cut back on consumption in order to slow down climate change.
Nearly all respondents to a poll commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat and conducted by Suomen Gallup are interested in recycling and sorting waste. Many also said that they are willing to buy appliances that consume less energy - even if this means replacing functioning equipment. Favouring public transport was also seen as a way to reduce emissions which contribute to global warming.
There was less willingness to pay significantly more for energy, and there was widespread opposition to any kind of "climate tax" to be added to products and services.
On the other hand, 70 per cent said that they would be willing to pay more for low-emission energy.
Women were generally more willing than men to take measures to slow climate change.
Highly educated white-collar professionals and those with high incomes tend to be more willing than the average to take measures aimed at slowing climate change.
A majority of Finns feel that climate change is at least a fairly big threat. More than one in four say that it is a very big threat to our future. Only a negligible number of respondents were completely indifferent.
Supporters of all political parties felt that it is possible to slow down global warming.
Supporters of the Green League tend to see climate change as a bigger threat than do supporters of other parties.
Women were more concerned about the issue than men.
The higher a person's educational background, the greater the concern about global warming. Among those with high levels of education, 45 per cent saw climate change as a very big threat, and 43 per cent saw it as fairly big.
Three out of four believe that it is possible to slow down climate change, if not stop it completely.
About one in ten were real optimists, thinking that climate change is not so dramatic that it cannot be stopped, while 13 per cent said that the only way to deal with the issue is to adapt to it. Almost nobody said that nothing needs to be done.
The poll was taken by telephone between September 12th to September 21st. There were 1,000 interviews of Finns aged 15 and over in all parts of Finland except the Åland Islands.
Helsingin Sanomat
Poll: Finns willing to curb consumption to slow climate change