Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Joutsenneva Niina -
Vastausten määrä: 6

The world must provide opportunity to good life for generations to come and we must not waste everything what we have now. Natural resources should be used equitably. Every person should think about their own consumption habits, their way of living and make their own contribution to the promotion of sustainable development. The global south is the most vulnerable, the most sensitive habitat, where we are already in crisis in many places. Every person´s actions have an impact, and in addition, bold political leadership is needed. People who are not concretely affected by crises do not understand the effects of climate change, and do not know how to react adequately. However the arrival of Corona showed that countries are capable of quick solutions and the results, for example in the air quality in big cities, where quickly noticeable.

 

EU member states have set goals for sustainable development, but there are differences in how the goals are measured. I think there are too many different indicators and the bad thing is the lack of data. Reports differ and are contradictory. Progress and progress towards goals are seen in reports in different ways. Insufficient data and different views in the reports do not give a reliable picture of the countries progress. Progress towards climate goals and sustainable development is too slow, because the climate is changing at an accelerating pace.

 

Reflection effects must also be taken into account. For example, people in rich countries buy different products, and they don´t think about the effects of manufacturing the products. Another aspect is also the disposal of products which creates environmental harm for many other countries. 

 

 


272 sanaa

Vastaus Joutsenneva Niina

Vs: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Purho Petra -
Like you said, everyone should take responsibility for their own consumption behavior. Unfortunately, as long as market prices are low, people in high-income countries do not see the seriousness of the situation. If it is cheaper and easier to order a new product from China to replace the broken one than to repair the old product, this is what is done. Market and transport prices for products should be raised so high that the threshold to order new products would increase. The personal waste fee should also be increased considerably so that people wake up to the amount of waste. Now that the waste is easy to dispose of, it is out of sight and out of mind, people forget that the products are by not just disappearing from the earth, but people in developing countries have to deal with our dangerous waste.

143 sanaa

Vastaus Joutsenneva Niina

Re: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Korpi Yolanda -
I agree, we can definitely have a huge impact if there is enough pressure to do so (such as covid for example). The question is, how we manage to do so also then, when our own lives aren't at stake? Are we so selfish or short sighted that we can't make these changes fast enough? It would be nice to see these changes as a higher priority, before money and material.

71 sanaa

Vastaus Joutsenneva Niina

Re: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Stenman Päivi -
I had the same thought that every person's actions matter. It is so often pointed out when discussing sustainability that it doesn't matter what we, in small country of Finland do, to justify the lack of actions: there are bigger nations like China, USA and Russia for example that cause more harm and anything that we do doesn't matter. But it starts with individuals. Governments than run countries are made of individuals, individuals decide how they consume and individuals also gather together to form organizations that fight for a better more sustainable planet for us all.

96 sanaa

Vastaus Stenman Päivi

Re: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Holm Tanja -
What we dont speak enough about in todays world when it comes to "everyones actions matter" is to think about thw work we do. The discussion often only focuses on us as consumers, and I agree that we have alot to do there as well: consume less, be more comfortable with a lower living standard etc.

But what I want to remind people is that you can also contribute through your work. Even if you are a receptionist, restaurant worker or accountant, think about the positive change you could do in your work place! Inspire your co-workers, suggest new practices and contribute to make current practices better.

I belive that companies are in a key role when it comes to climate action and the change starts from within the organisation, not by outside policy or forec reporting.

137 sanaa

Vastaus Holm Tanja

Vs: Re: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Teräväinen Sini -
I agree that equitable resource use and personal responsibility are essential for sustainable development. I would like to share my personal habits for preventing climate change:

-I avoid buying fast fashion items (e.g. Shein, H&M...)
-I try to stick max 5 new clothes per year (but sometimes I slip from it)
-I very rarely drive alone by car, I prefer public transport
-I almost never throw away food
-I have always lived in fairly small apartments
-I am 85% vegetarian
-I use the same items year after year (e.g. furniture, clothes...). I have bought only one new phone during last 15 years.
-So far I have no kids ;)

But then again, I love traveling which unfortunately consumes the climate. However, changing individual habits alone may not be enough; we need systemic change driven by industries and governments.

138 sanaa

Vastaus Joutsenneva Niina

Vs: Everyone can influence the progress of climate change!

Uotila Heidi -
Yes, people should take responsibility for how they consume and change their habits to be more sustainable. But can we all do this as individuals, with so many temptations around us? Products, like clothes, are so cheap that even selfmade clothes seem expensive next to them. It would be very important to reuse existing products to reduce consumption. Do we even need government guidance to limit fast fashion growth and support sustainable clothing production in our country?

77 sanaa