Environment

A young woman and man wearing safety vests stand by a forest pond, collecting trash into a garbage bag.

Physically, psychologically and socially healthy and safe living environment impacts the well-being of an individual and the society substantially.

In Finland, for example, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) conducts research on the effects of environmental matters on human health, illnesses and well-being.

Disruptions significant to the environment include:

  • major contamination of land or water areas
  • a land, sea or air traffic accident
  • an accident involving hazardous substances
  • a serious animal or plant disease outbreak
  • mass extinction of organisms
  • disruption of water supply (including wastewater disposal)
  • disruption of waste disposal

The Ministry of Environment maintains an emergency standby duty for special situations. In the event of a serious emergency, the Ministry sets up a crisis group to respond to the situation.

Source: Ministry of the Environment

Damaging the environment is a crime.

Environmental offences are acts that damage and endanger the environment, natural resources and flora or fauna.

Environmental offences
An aerial view of Suomenlinna at Kustaanmiekka.

The effects of climate change are showing in Finland’s nature and weather

  • Draught, floods and, for example, winter storms are increasing.
  • Snowfall is decreasing, seas and inland waters are frozen for shorter periods of time and winters are rainier.
  • Water pollution is increasing, which means that water bodies are becoming more eutrophic.
  • Extreme weather events are becoming more common.

Source: Environment.fi

The way we live, eat, move and consume effects the climate.

Find out what your carbon footprint is like with Sitra’s Lifestyle test.

You will get tailored tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint.

Lifestyle test

Finland’s nature is facing impoverishment.

  • 12% of our species are threatened, putting them at risk of extinction within Finland.
  • Nearly 400 habitat types have been identified in Finland. Habitat types are land or water areas with specific environmental conditions and a characteristic biotic community. Nearly half of all habitat types in Finland are classified as threatened.
  • Biodiversity loss is mainly the result of land and water areas being used for a variety of purposes that alter, destroy and fragment nature.

Source: Environment.fi

Protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility.

Environmental protection
A young man in a beanie and a winter coat with a fur-lined hood stands by the sea, looking straight ahead with a serious expression.

Everyman’s rights

  • In Finland, we have everyman’s rights, which grant us all a unique right to use the nature regardless of who owns or controls the area.
  • Read more about what you can and cannot do with these rights from the ’Everyman’s rights’ section.

Prevent bathing water outbreaks

There are approximately 300 large public beaches that are visited by a significant number of bathers during the bathing season. There are even more small beaches.

Even good quality bathing water may become contaminated and not suitable for bathing for various reasons.

Let’s take care of our unique bodies of water and beaches together.

For more specific instructions on how you can prevent bathing water outbreaks, check out the ’Water outages and contaminated water’ section.

The environmental damages caused by fires can be extremely severe.

Successful first-aid fire extinguishing combats and prevents environmental damages.

Read more about first-aid fire extinguishing in the Fires section

Instructions on how to report an emergency

  1. Call the emergency number 112.

    Only call in urgent, genuine emergencies when someone’s life, health or property or the environment is under threat or in danger. If you use the 112 mobile app, remember to make the call through the app. This way, your location information will be forwarded to the emergency response centre automatically.

     

    You can also call the emergency number 112 using a foreign mobile phone subscription. Even then there’s no need to use a country or area code: just dial 112.

  2. You can also send a text message.

    If necessary, you can also report an emergency by sending an SMS to the number +358 112.

     

    The use of emergency SMS messages is primarily reserved for individuals who cannot hear or produce speech. An emergency text message can only be sent from a pre-registered phone number. A number can be pre-registered on the Suomi.fi website.

  3. Do not call or text the emergency number in the following cases:

    if the situation is not urgent, if you have general enquiries or want to ask a question or if you are reporting a disturbance where no one is in danger.

    Source: Suomi.fi

Take action for safety – download the 112 Suomi mobile app!

Through the app, you will receive public safety alerts and notices directly to your phone. The app also provides instructions on how to prepare for various disruptions. The instructions can also be read in the app when the network connection is down, that is, in offline mode.

Download the free 112 Suomi mobile app