A clear majority of city dwellers in Finland are concerned about climate change

More than one in three of the Finnish urban population are very much (17%) or much (20%) concerned about climate change. Almost as many (31%) say they are quite concerned about climate change.

Climate change is of very little concern to 24% of city dwellers, and 8% are not concerned at all. Of men, 12% are not at all concerned about climate change and 30% are only somewhat concerned. The corresponding percentages for women are 4% and 19%.

These are results from the Sustainable Urban Environments 2019 barometer*, a survey of one thousand city dwellers in Finland conducted by YIT and Prior Konsultointi. The barometer, conducted for the second time this autumn, aims to reveal the types of urban environments people in Finland wish to see developed. The participating city dwellers express their views on themes such as home, urban environment, transport and retail.

During the past 12 months, every second urban resident – especially among young women – has taken actions to curb their emissions from living and transportation. The most popular activities include increasing waste sorting (74%), increasing walking or cycling (59%), increasing the use of public transport (47%), reducing hot water use (46%) and reducing car use in leisure time (43%). About one-fifth of the urban population have taken a passive stand.

Concerns over climate change have also been reflected in the eating habits of city dwellers. Almost half have changed their diets in a more environmentally friendly direction over the past 12 months. For example, as much as 33% of city dwellers have increased their intake of domestic vegetables, and 23% have increased their intake of legumes. About one fourth have reduced their intake of beef.

The results of the barometer also show that about half of city dwellers would prefer to live in the city centre or next to a public transport hub and that e-commerce is gaining popularity. Furthermore, in the barometer, city dwellers were also able to tell what they would change in Finland and in the world if they were given the power to do so.

The results of the barometer will be discussed at the seventh Sustainable Urban Environments seminar organised by YIT on November 12th. After the seminar, the results will be published to a wider audience.

*Sustainable Urban Environments barometer 2019
The Sustainable Urban Environments barometer was carried out for the second time this year. The survey is targeted at the residents of eight cities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä and Kuopio. The data was collected by an online panel administered by CINT Ab during September 16–27, 2019. There were 1,022 respondents. The sample is representative of the 18–75-year-old population of the participating cities in terms of respondents’ age, gender and the size of each city. 

The results of the barometer and themes related to urban development will be discussed at the Sustainable Urban Environments seminar, now organised by YIT for the seventh time. The seminar will take place on November 12, 2019. Approximately 200 decision-makers representing municipalities and the property sector have already registered to attend the seminar. This year’s topics include circular economy, urbanisation, co-living and job change. The theme of the seminar is “What are sustainable cities made of?”
Media representatives are warmly welcome to attend the Sustainable Urban Environments seminar. If you would like to attend, please send an email to johanna.savolainen@yit.fi  

Read more:
Sustainable development is at the core of YIT’s new strategy

For further information, please contact:
Johanna Savolainen, Communications Manager, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)44 305 4594, johanna.savolainen@yit.fi

YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European construction company. We develop and build apartments and living services, business premises and entire areas. We are also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction and paving. Together with our customers, our nearly 10,000 professionals are creating more functional, attractive and sustainable cities and environments. We work in 11 countries: Finland, Russia, Scandinavia, Baltic Countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The new YIT was born when over 100-year-old YIT Corporation and Lemminkäinen Corporation merged on February 1, 2018. Our restated pro forma revenue for 2018 was approximately EUR 3.2 billion. YIT Corporation's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. www.yitgroup.com