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Household consumption accounts for 65–72% of total greenhouse gas emissions globally, and therefore, a change in current consumption patterns has the potential to mitigate climate change and provide emission reductions. There is knowledge on the consumption options with a high mitigation potential, but this information has not been combined with a consumer behavior information. This study examines the emission-reduction potential of suburban residents in Finland through a survey that assesses their willingness to adopt climate actions, and by calculating the potential impact of various actions. Finnish suburban households have already implemented low-impact climate actions (recycling, reducing food waste), but the implementation of high-impact actions in households could also be increased. Transitioning to a vegetarian diet, reducing air travel and limiting consumption are identified as the most effective mitigation actions when the potential increase in the implementation rate and impact on greenhouse gas emissions are considered. However, the results suggest that voluntary individual efforts alone are not sufficient to achieve the 1.5 °C carbon budget. Thus, alongside behavioural changes, strong policy measures and technological advancements are necessary. These findings emphasise the specific individual actions that should be prioritised when formulating climate policies at the national or city levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, city planners design urban futures by considering environmental degradation and climate mitigation. Here, we studied the greenhouse gas fluxes of urban lawns and meadows and linked the observations with plant functional types and soil properties. In eight lawns and eight meadows in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes were measured using manual chambers, and plant functional types were recorded. Four of these sites, i.e. an irrigated lawn, an old mesic meadow, a non-irrigated lawn and a young dry meadow, were more intensively studied in 2021–2022. The process-based ecosystem model JSBACH was utilized together with the momentary observations collected approximately every second week on CO2 exchange to quantify the annual carbon (C) balance of these sites. On the remaining sites, we studied the initial dynamics of conversion from lawns to meadows by transforming parts of lawns to meadows in late 2020 and conducting measurements from 2020 to 2022. The mean photosynthetic production (GPP) of the irrigated lawn and mesic meadow was the highest in this study, whereas the dry meadow had the lowest GPP. The studied lawns were stronger C sinks compared to the meadows. However, the net exchange values were uncertain as the soils were not in equilibrium with the vegetation at all sites, which is common for urban habitats, and modelling the heterotrophic emissions was therefore challenging. The conversion from a lawn to a meadow did not affect the fluxes of CH4 and N2O. Moreover, the mesic meadow was more resistant to drought events than the non-irrigated lawn. Lastly, the proportion of herbaceous flowering plants other than grasses was higher in meadows than in lawns. Even though social and economic aspects also steer urban development, these results can guide planning when considering environmentally friendlier green spaces and carbon smartness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation requires countries to report their annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sinks, including those from land use, land use change, and forestry (LULUCF). In Finland, the LULUCF sector plays a crucial role in achieving net-zero GHG emissions, as the sector is expected to be a net sink. However, accurate estimates of LULUCF-related GHG emissions, such as methane (CH 4 ), remain challenging. We estimated LULUCF-related CH 4 emissions in Finland in 2013–2020 by combining national land cover and remote-sensed surface wetness data with CH 4 emissions estimated by an inversion model. According to our inversion model, most of Finland's CH 4 emissions were attributed to natural sources such as open pristine peatlands. However, our research indicated that forests with thin tree cover surrounding open peatlands may also be a significant source of CH 4 . Unlike open pristine peatlands and pristine peatlands with thin tree cover, surrounding transient forests are included in the Finnish GHG inventory if they meet the criteria used for forest land. The current Finnish national GHG inventory may therefore underestimate CH 4 emissions from forested organic soils surrounding open peatlands, although more precise methods and data are needed to verify this. Given the potential impact on net GHG emissions, CH 4 emissions from transitional forests on organic soils should be further investigated. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the potential of combining atmospheric inversion modelling of GHGs with diverse data sources and highlight the need for methods to more easily combine atmospheric inversions with national GHG inventories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvested wood products (HWP) may contribute to climate change mitigation by storing carbon and by replacing energy‐intensive materials and fossil energy, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, when assessing improved HWP utilisations, interactions between wood use pathways, the carbon stock dynamics, and the resulting effect on the GHG balance are still not well‐understood. This research aims to assess the carbon sequestration effects of alternative wood product utilisations in four European Union (EU) countries. We conducted a material flow analysis of wood uses in France, Finland, Germany, and Spain for 2017 taking into account national production, imports, and exports. Then, we quantified the future dynamics of carbon stock in the HWP through time, assuming the same as in 2017 input and ignoring the forest sink. We then ran six alternative scenarios: two energy‐focused (Energy, Energy+), two material‐focused (Cascading, Material), one with extended half‐life of the wood products (HL) and one as business as usual. For the simulation period (2020–2050), the material scenario leads to the highest mitigation benefits with a cumulative HWP net CO2 removals of −502 Mt CO2 for Germany, −290 Mt CO2 for France, −118 Mt CO2 for Spain, and −116 Mt CO2 for Finland over the 30 years. The Energy+ scenario with an increase in wood usage for bioenergy generates a loss of the HWP pool of 351, 80, 77, and 6 Mt CO2 for the same countries, not accounting for energy substitution effects. Overall, our results suggest that the HWP carbon stock can be increased in the short‐medium term by prioritizing the use of wood for material purposes, while maintaining constant harvest. The HWP mitigation potential differed greatly according to national wood industry characteristics. Hence, tailoring the HWP mitigation strategies to the specific characteristics of the national wood chain would enhance the HWP climate benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media representations of the future are a key component of climate change and energy policies. This study integrates media analysis with futures studies and focuses on the media framings and representations of futures related to key national-level energy and climate strategy documents. It utilizes qualitative content analysis of online news articles of Finland's national public broadcasting company committed to high-quality journalism. The results show that a more multifaceted coverage of climate action increased during the study period of 2015–2020, especially in terms of frames and future scenario archetypes, and indicate gradually widening awareness of climate risks. However, climate change has been framed as an isolated policy area, and climate change mitigation and adaptation remain framed as subordinate to economic policy targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peatlands are significant to global efforts to combat climate change. However, to date, they have been a missing piece in the climate change mitigation policy puzzle in the European Union (EU). Taking a policy coherence perspective, we investigate how policies from different governance levels—that is, EU, member state, and regional levels—support and impede existing and new policies for climate-friendly peatland usage. We put a particular focus on incentive-based policy instruments, because such incentives are often advocated as promising policy instruments for supporting the transition to the sustainable management of peatlands. We selected the three peatland-rich EU countries Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Based on semi-structured interviews with 35 experts, we indicate a lack of horizontal policy coherence between agriculture, nature conservation, water management, forestry, energy, and climate policies in terms of climate change mitigation measures on peatlands. At the EU level, most prominently, the Common Agricultural Policy counteracts climate targets because direct payments currently encourage the unsustainable management of peatlands. At the national and subnational levels, water quality in Finland, nature conservation in Germany, and subsidence in the Netherlands were primary objectives of peatland relevant policies. Due to a lack of clear guidance on raising the groundwater table, the current incentive-based policy instruments are ineffective for reducing emissions. Despite its higher mitigation potential, potential incentive-based policies for rewetting encounter various regulatory barriers caused by the policy incoherence. We conclude that the transition to climate-friendly peatland usage requires coherent regulatory frameworks and incentive-based policies supporting rewetting. • We demonstrate the multi-sectoral and multi-level nature of peatland policies in the EU. • Agriculture, nature, water, and energy policies often impede horizontal coherence. • Conflicts between EU, national, and regional policies hinder vertical coherence. • Regulatory frameworks and incentive-based policies should be coherent. • Current incentive-based policy instruments are ineffective for emissions reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding landowners' willingness to act on climate change is important for effective climate policy. This study investigates the determinants of Finnish non-industrial private forest owners' preferences for alternative climate change mitigation strategies related to forests and wood use. The study tests hypotheses concerning the role of risk perception and political leaning for the support of seven alternative strategies with varying degree of disruption to the current logic of commercial forestry in Finland, which further aligns with the temporal delay in the impact of climate change mitigation strategies that landowners are willing to accept. Based on 887 survey responses from three regions, the study finds that forest owners generally support all but one of the seven strategies: reduced harvest. Results from ordinal logistic regression models further indicate that along with socio-demographic determinants, higher perceived risk and left-wing leaning with a university degree explain support for more disruptive strategies with more immediate mitigation impact (increased conservation, reduced harvest), while lower perceived risk and right-wing leaning without a university degree tend to associate with support for the less disruptive strategies (intensified management, increased harvest), both of which arguably sideline the urgency of climate action. In the highly politicized matter of harvest levels in Finland, the study also finds that right-wing leaning may negate the effect of higher education, which otherwise predicts greater support for more disruptive strategies. Implications for policy at the climate-forest nexus are derived. • Preferences of forest owners for mitigation strategies in forests were investigated. • Ordinal logistic regression with 887 survey responses was used. • Forest owners support all but one of the seven strategies: reduced harvest. • High perceived risk and left-wing leaning explain support for strengthening sinks. • Political leaning influences effect of higher education on support for strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global agriculture faces severe challenges due to climate change. For boreal agriculture, climate change might also bring opportunities as the growing season lengthens, if the risks of climate change are managed properly. Agricultural production is a source of greenhouse gases, while agricultural land has also a great possibility to mitigate climate change as a carbon sink. Farmers are the central group for implementing these actions. Their views and beliefs contribute to their corresponding pro-environmental agricultural behavior. This research is based on the theory of value-belief-norm (VBN) as a predictive model of pro-environmental agricultural behavior. We extend the theory by studying how opportunities caused by climate change affect pro-environmental behavior in agriculture and present differences between farmer groups and experiment with the longitudinal possibilities of the theoretical model. Based on the structured survey responses from 4,401 farmers in Finland in 2018 and 2000 responses in 2020, we found that all the elements of VBN theory did help to predict intention for climate change mitigation, among which felt possibility to perform mitigation practices was the strongest predictor while risk perception was rather an unimportant one. Furthermore, opportunities caused directly or indirectly by climate change have an effect on Finnish farmer's implementation of mitigation practices. Therefore, future efforts in agricultural research and policy in Finland should concentrate to bring forth concrete farm-level mitigation practices with proven environmental benefits and the direct and indirect opportunities should be given more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable, up-to-date biomass data are needed for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency. Therefore, a calculation and reporting tool with thematic maps and data was developed. A free web-tool, Biomass Atlas, collects the spatial distribution of biomasses in Finland. Over 300 data layers present land use, cultivation, residual biomasses from forest, crop production, animal husbandry, municipalities, and industry at 1 km2 spatial resolution. The service enables calculations of biomass amount in a defined geographical area of interest and examining the opportunities and restrictions to utilise biomasses. The service was evaluated with six test-users in laboratory tests and 20 voluntary pilot test-users. Biomass Atlas shows the regional potential of biomaterials, fertilizer products, and renewable energy, as well as potential targets for utilized, recyclable biomass. Other possible uses include monitoring plant cover on fields and assessing land use diversity. Application enables users with no experience in GIS or biomass assessments to analyse biomass resources, produce maps and data summaries for decision making. [Display omitted] • Biomass Atlas is a spatially explicit web application to assess the biomass data. • Amounts and location of produced and recyclable biomass in Finland. • Forests, agricultural areas, crops and sidestreams on thematic maps. • Biomass modelling and calculation tools are given at 1 km2 spatial resolution. • Data for decision making on biomass utilisation for biomaterials, nutrients, and energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sequestering carbon into agricultural soils is considered as a means of mitigating climate change. We used agronomic soil test results representing c. 95% of the farmed land area in Finland to estimate the potential of the uppermost 15 cm soil layer of mineral agricultural soils to sequester organic carbon (OC) and to contribute to the mitigation of climate change. The estimation of the maximum capacity of mineral matter to protect OC in stable mineral-associated form was based on the theory that clay and fine-sized (fines = clay + silt) particles have a limited capacity to protect OC. In addition, we used the clay/OC and fines/OC ratios to identify areas with a risk of erosion and reduced productivity, thus indicating priority areas potentially benefitting from the increased soil OC contents. We found that 32–40% of the mineral agricultural soils in Finland have the potential to further accumulate mineral-associated OC (MOC), while in the majority of soils, the current OC stock in the uppermost 15 cm exceeded the capacity of mineral matter to protect OC. The nationwide soil OC sequestration potential of the uppermost 15 cm in mineral agricultural soils ranged between 0.21 and 0.26 Tg, which corresponds to less than 2% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in Finland. The fields with the highest potential for SOC accrual were found in the southern and southwestern parts of the country, including some of the most intensively cultivated high-clay soils. Although the nationwide potential for additional OC sequestration was estimated to be relatively small, the current OC storage in Finnish arable mineral soils (0-15 cm) is large, 128 Tg. Farming practices enabling maximum OC input into the soil play an important role as a tool for mitigating the loss of carbon from high-OC soils in the changing climate. Furthermore, especially in high-clay areas with potential for MOC accrual, efforts to increase soil OC could help improve soil structural stability and therefore reduce erosion and the loss of nutrients to the aquatic environments. [Display omitted] • We estimated the potential of mineral arable soils for organic carbon sequestration • Nationwide carbon sequestration potential in the uppermost soil layer was 0.21–0.26 Tg • Less than 40% of mineral arable soils have potential to increase stable organic carbon • Greatest potential lies in the intensively cultivated high-clay soils • Maintenance of current significant carbon stock (128 Tg, 0–15 cm) should be secured [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a complex and wicked problem, which needs to be addressed through relevant climate change education. However, the preconditions for combatting climate change differ in different parts of the world, depending on physical, cultural and social circumstances. The diversity of circumstances also influences the implementation of climate change in education. Therefore, in this article we have chosen to examine climate change education (CCE) based on an interview study in two distinct school contexts. More specifically, the cases aim to explore Finnish and Tanzanian primary students' views on climate change. A hermeneutical approach guided the analysis, and a significant result was that most of the students understood the severity of climate change. Nevertheless, some misconceptions regarding both causes, consequences and mitigation of climate change were also obvious. In addition, the analysis revealed interesting variations in the students' reasoning, which relate to their different contexts. Unquestionably, the sample size in this study is limited, and further research is needed for a more detailed picture of Finnish and Tanzanian students' views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A rare, large national sample collected in Finland in 2019 was used as data. • All indexes of climate anxiety and hope correlated positively with climate action. • Climate anxiety and climate hope were strongly intercorrelated. • Both climate anxiety and climate hope had unique effects on climate action. • Supports seeing anxiety and hope as intertwined, adaptive feelings. Climate anxiety is a phenomenon which raises growing attention. Based on a national survey of climate-related feelings and behaviors (N = 2070) in Finland, we analyzed and discussed the concept of climate anxiety and its relationship with hope and action. We found that all our measures for climate anxiety (including worry and some stronger manifestations of anxiety) and hope (including efficacy beliefs) correlated positively with each other and climate action. Furthermore, climate anxiety and hope explained unique parts of variance in self-reported climate action. We propose that, in line with the Extended Parallel Process model (EPPM) that was used as a framework, the interplay of emotions needs to be considered when studying and explaining their effect on climate action. In conclusion, the results provide support for seeing climate anxiety and hope as intertwined and adaptive feelings, which could be needed to motivate humankind in finding solutions to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A harmful impact of climate change and global warming has concerned various sectors of the international community. Numerous energy policies aiming at climate change mitigation have been implemented on a national and global scale. Renewable energy technologies (RETs) play a critical role in enhancing sustainable solutions that significantly limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Such innovative technologies can facilitate energy transition through providing, e.g., energy security, sustainable development, and effective usage of indigenous resources. However, the commercialization of RETs is extremely challenging. The barriers can be of a different nature, although this study focused on socioeconomic and regulatory issues. There is ample evidence that energy policies play a central role in supporting adoption of renewables. It is also claimed that RETs require the whole ecosystem to support their successful diffusion. In this study, we explored multifarious barriers for widespread RET diffusion in two European Union countries, Finland and Poland, indicating the most common barriers existing in the literature as well as analyzing major bottlenecks from the viewpoint of renewable energy companies' executives. We also present statistics of the most commonly used RETs in these countries in order to express the diffusion issues more appropriately. The research shows that inflexible, ineffective, and excessive regulatory frameworks; limited financing options; as well as an insufficient level of societal awareness have been seen as the main bottlenecks for RET diffusion in both countries. The outcomes of this study provide useful insights for the researchers in the energy transition field as well as practical managerial and regulatory implications aimed at overcoming these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]