Catastrophic risks are threats to human civilisation that would challenge contemporary global infrastructures and jeopardise most of humankind. These may sound far-fetched or a matter of science fiction. However, scientists theorise that an asteroid with a diameter of 10 kilometres that hit Earth 66 million years ago was responsible for the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
Although some existential risks are posed by external threats, like an asteroid collision, many contemporary threats are a product of human activities. Climate change, also referred to as global warming, is one such threat: a small change in average global surface temperature of 2-4 degrees Celsius may make the Earth inhospitable for the majority of the currently existing life forms, including humans.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it has been easy to lose sight of the extensive risks posed by runaway greenhouse gasses. However, despite the shift in focus from environmental sustainability to national security, the pending climate crisis has been exacerbated by increased military activities from aviation to battlefield detonations.
While we may be mired with doomsday scenarios given the polycrises that currently confront us, the point of research is to contribute to identifying and operationalising pathways to mitigating existential risks.
Against this background, and in celebration of Earth Day 2025, it is timely to reconsider the important climate actions that remain underway due to the commitments of the Finnish government, the city of Helsinki, and the University of Helsinki.
Finland adopted the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, and since has significantly sped up the green energy transition due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The City of Helsinki has placed increasing emphasis on sustainability in recent years and aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The University of Helsinki also aims to be carbon neutral by 2030. Published in 2023, the University’s Roadmap to Sustainability outlines four key measures to reduce carbon emissions: carbon-neutral facilities, sustainable procurement, low-emission transport, and sustainable eating habits. The Sustainability and Responsibility Plan for 2025-2028 highlights over 40 measures to increase both sustainability and wellbeing, including improving accessibility, developing sustainability education, and clarifying decision-making on sustainability.
The Climate University (CU) is among Finland’s best academic environmental initiatives, first created in 2021. Administered by the University’s own Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), the CU is committed to internationality and intends to increase public understanding of climate change and what we as individuals can do. With most courses being taught fully online, it offers a range of courses encompassing a multitude of facets of sustainability.
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This Earth Day, we in the Global Politics and Communication Master's Programme are announcing the introduction of the Sustainable Consumption course into the Climate University curricula. The theme of sustainable consumption, which is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 12, was inspired by two core themes:
- How individuals can contribute to greenhouse gas reduction given that each person’s impact is negligible.
- How to tackle the modern world’s deference to free market solutions to solve problems.
As we can see from recent political trends, confidence in governments to provide either regulations or programmes to address predicaments from pollution to pandemics is unpredictable. The sustainable consumption curricula assumes that regardless of what types of governments people vote into power, addressing rising carbon gas emissions is essential for maintaining a viable planetary ecosystem.
Many of us seek to live within planetary boundaries and to contribute to building a sustainable lifestyle that will support future generations who include our children and grandchildren. Small individual actions add up to make an enormous difference, including slight changes in dietary choices to include less greenhouse gas emitting food alternatives.
The Sustainable Consumption textbook and course are open source, and designed for learners of all ages and levels of education post-high school. All materials are available in English and Finnish. The course is the result of a research collaboration between the University of Helsinki and Aalto University, and it was the product of a 2.75 M EUR Horizon 2020 grant for Research and Innovation.
S.M. Amadae is a tenured political scientist in World Politics, Director of the Global Politics and Communication Master's Programme, and also serves as Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University. Caro Carter is a master's student in and research assistant for Global Politics and Communication.