A 44-item questionnaire was created to examine pre-service teachers' knowledge and perceptions of the impact of mitigative climate change actions and how willing they are to undertake these actions. Responses (N = 224) were collected from pre-service teachers at the University of Eastern Finland. The findings show that pre-service teachers have a very low level of knowledge of the impact of different mitigative climate change actions. Furthermore, the students tend to overestimate the carbon footprint of low-impact actions and underestimate the carbon footprint of high-impact actions and they are unable to make a clear distinction between low-and high-impact actions, though the impact of the high-impact actions may be many times greater than those of low-impact actions. In general, pre-service teachers were willing to take low-impact actions, somewhat willing to take mid-impact actions, but reluctant to take the highest-impact actions. Knowledge of the impact of actions did not correlate with willingness to act, possibly due to low levels of knowledge. Some correlation between confidence in knowledge and willingness to act was found. This article discusses the importance of considering confidence in knowledge in future research examining the relationship between knowledge and action. The implications of the findings on teacher education and environmental education are also discussed. Keywords Climate change education. Climate change mitigation. Climate change knowledge. Pro-environmental behavior. Willingness to act. Confidence in knowledge. Carbon footprint

The amount of money that could potentially be saved by households by reducing unnecessary consumption and directed to sustainable investments without compromising the social needs in Finnish households was studied. The study was conducted by using statistical data and by creating short-and long-term scenarios to assess potential savings resulting from changes in household behaviour. According to the results, a Finnish household could save and subsequently allocate an average of €3400-€15,000 annually to invest in sustainability. The greatest potential for preventing unnecessary consumption is related to (1) food and drinks, and (2) transportation. In the long-term scenario, reducing expenditures in the category of housing also provides opportunities for high savings. A significant share of the saving created by sustainable patterns of consumption can be directed for example to investments in renewable energy.

Mitigating the sustainability challenges related to agriculture and ensuring adequate availability of nutritious food requires an increase in the use of sustainable alternative protein sources. Edible insects are considered to be a sustainable protein source and a possible substitute for meat. There are many readily available edible insect species with many competing utilization possibilities, which, from the producers’ perspective, increases the complexity of the area. Through a consumer survey and expert interviews, this study recognizes four pathways to increasing the use of edible insects in Western countries and especially in Finland where the survey and interviews were conducted: (1) producing a variety of insect-based food products, especially food products where insects are not recognizable as such and the food is in a familiar form; (2) producing edible insect food products which could replace greenhouse gas emission-intensive animal proteins; (3) focusing on the price, taste, and availability of insect food; and (4) using insects as animal feed. Our findings provide information on the prospects of the studied pathways in terms of consumption and production. Technological development is expected to decrease the price of insect-based food products, but at the same time, the increased use of edible insects faces challenges related to eating habits, contradictory perceptions about the sustainability implications of insect farming, and the availability of insect-based products.

Household consumption leads to global warming potential impacts, for example, via energy consumption, production processes, and transportation. About 72% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are related to household consumption. Some of this consumption is nonessential and could therefore be reduced, leading to decreased GHG emissions. There is, however, a risk of a rebound effect if money saved by reducing consumption is used or invested in a way that leads to GHG emissions elsewhere. Therefore, in efforts to further mitigate climate change via anti-consumption behavior or changes in consumption, it should be ensured that money saved is impact invested in climate change mitigating actions, thus creating a secondary impact. Previous studies have not considered the need to account for this double impact dynamic in climate change mitigation. An approach to calculate potential for double impacts is developed in this work. The article also presents quantitative GHG emissions reduction potentials, for example, some anti-consumption actions and consumption changes as well as for possible impact investments.

Improvements in energy efficiency and production of renewable energy hold significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions of housing, which accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In our research, we focused on the willingness of owners of detached houses to adopt renewable energy production systems of their own, and we examined perceived barriers to adopting these systems. The research was conducted using a survey and a life cycle assessment model. The survey covered three residential areas in Lahti, Finland, and the potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions were estimated using a life cycle assessment model based on the survey results. The barriers to transformation were identified as a lack of knowledge in the following three areas: (1) the possible annual savings attained; (2) the costs of implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy production solutions; and (3) the technologies used in renewable energy production. The greenhouse gas emission reductions in the residential areas surveyed would amount to approximately 15% if the consumers implemented the solutions they considered.

The transition from a linear economy to a circular economy requires a new way of thinking. In a circular economy, products are used more intensively, for example, by sharing them with others. To understand the possibilities of the sharing economy, environmental, social and economic impacts all need to be considered. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the importance of the sharing economy as well as to increase understanding of how public sharing-economy services can be launched. The research methods used include a case-study approach and assessment of greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, an implemented cooperation process of creating a tool and device library (the Library of Things) in a small Finnish municipality is described. Furthermore, the library’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions during the first 14 months of operation is assessed. The results indicate that approximately 5752 kg CO2eq was avoided during the 14-month period, assuming that with each loan, manufacturing of a new good was avoided. In addition, strong implications of local positive effects on social sustainability were found.

Household consumption accounts for 72% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To obtain consumption-based emissions in accordance with the 1.5-degree target, the carbon footprint of individuals should be reduced to 2.5 t CO2e a-1 by 2030, which means at least a 70% reduction in high-emitting countries. The decrease in consumption-based GHG emissions can be achieved through both technological and behavioural changes. Currently, climate measures are largely dependent on technological efficiency, although behavioural changes are also needed. In this paper, we study how technological actions to decarbonise the energy and mobility sectors affect consumption-based carbon footprints in the years 2010–2030 in a suburb in Finland. Based on the results, emissions from the mobility sector decreased by 50%, and those from the energy sector decreased by 68% in 2010–2030, when only technology development and society-level actions are considered. These emission reductions affected the carbon footprint of an average Finnish suburb by decreasing it by 37%. This study demonstrates that technological actions to decarbonise the energy and mobility sectors do not guarantee adequate emission reduction by 2030 to achieve the 1.5-degree target; therefore, a change in lifestyle and consumption habits is also needed. Further research should take behavioural changes into account when assessing the development of a consumption-based carbon footprint.

Previous research on field of sustainable development has shown that individuals' systems thinking competency promotes and predicts their sustainability competency and pro-environmental behavior well. Systems thinking competency also enables us to focus more on large-scale climate change mitigation actions. Previous surveys indicated that Finns have changed their behavior for mitigating climate change, but this has been not reflected in decreased consumption-based calculated carbon footprints because large-scale mitigation measures have not materialized. The present study assessed Finns' systems thinking competency (n = 2006) and knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint. The survey data collected were analyzed using explorative factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, t-test, and analysis of variance. The results indicate that Finns view their own systems thinking competency related to climate change as not very high, and heir assessments vary widely.Moreover, their knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint is somewhat low and is geared toward small-scale mitigation actions. The results can be used to inform environmental policy and sustainability education priorities.