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Simo Häyrynen wrote a column for the country’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (HS Vieraskynä 13 Aug 2021), drawing a parallel between the fate of peat production in Ireland and in Finland. When the paper came out, the seasoned researcher soon started to receive feedback both on social media and in the paper’s comments sections. Clearly, the column had hit a nerve, but why?

The future of using peat to produce energy was visibly disputed in the Finnish Government in spring 2021. Peat has always had its avid supporters, even though peat burning is known to cause significant greenhouse gas emissions. Finland has also witnessed citizens' initiatives both for and against the energy use of peat.

In his column, Häyrynen compared Finland to Ireland, where peat burning has a long history and a key role as an energy resource. Yet, the Irish national energy company Bord na Móna is committed to phasing out peat by 2025.

���n Ireland, the transformation is more comprehensive than in Finland. Peat is the foundation pillar of Ireland's energy self-sufficiency, but we have more options in Finland. Here, the natural resources narrative is dominated by forests. This is why I’m baffled by the Finnish peat debate, especially when contrasted with Ireland's plans to stop using peat for energy on such a fast schedule,” Häyrynen says.

According to Häyrynen, abandoning peat is largely seen as an energy efficiency and political issue in Finland, even though in recent years, peat has accounted for only a few per cent of the country’s energy production. Peat burning, on the other hand, is estimated to account for roughly ten per cent of Finland's greenhouse gas emissions.

“Even the hardest critics on social media believe that peat burning will stop at some point. That’s something we agree on. So why can’t we prepare an exit strategy, as has already been done Ireland? This kind of deliberate slowing down of progress is visible even in academic debate,” Häyrynen says.

“History and identity must not be replaced”

Simo Häyrynen has years of experience with factors affecting sustainability transitions. He was the leader of The Frontier of Sustainability Transitions project funded by the Academy of Finland in 2016 –2019. The aim was to identify cultural and regional differences underlying people’s environmental attitudes in the peripheries of Europe.

Häyrynen visited Ireland in 2019 to learn about the country’s peat industry. He has written about climate resilience and Irish attitudes towards climate change in the book Culture and Climate Resilience – Perspectives from Europe (eds Grit Martinez, Palgrave Studies in Climate Resilient Societies, 2021). The book is .

For traditional peat-reliant communities in Irish Midlands, the planned phasing out of peat production would mean significant challenges, unemployment, and migration. Yet, the plan is to see the plan through, and to find other ways of utilising peatlands.

Häyrynen highlights one important factor in tolerating major change: in sustainability transitions, it is vital to give value and recognition to past livelihoods and their history, even if they no longer have a future.

“Peat has been part of Ireland’s national project. Irish Midlands used to be a source of many stories of poverty and hunger, and peat – or black butter – changed the narrative for many locals. It should be acknowledged that the local people have done exactly what society needed them to do. Ireland leaned on peat long before the climate impacts of peat burning were known. History and identity must not be replaced; instead, they must be shown to the public and valued. This is definitely one element in coping with the transition,” Häyrynen emphasises.

Häyrynen noticed a similar phenomenon when he researched the transformation taking place in Outokumpu, a Finnish mining town, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. The closure of the mine caused paralysis but showcasing mining history through art and culture helped the community to maintain its pride.

“For many peat entrepreneurs, it is not just a question of depriving them of tools and livelihoods, but of identity and appreciation. They should be given a helping hand by accepting the past and the collective memories. Just support for the transition must take into account both the economic and cultural dimensions.”

Cultural impediments slow down sustainability transitions

Häyrynen and his colleagues have studied European attitudes towards organic farming, nature conservation, and transport, among other things. In sustainability transitions, cultural impediments are strongly – and sometimes surprisingly – present.

“Slovenia, for example, is a country the size of Kainuu, a region here in Finland. Almost everyone in Slovenia uses a private car to get around, public transport is inadequate, and commuting congests the highways. There, having a private car is seen as an important demonstration of individual freedom. Public transport is frowned upon because it reminds of the country’s socialist past. That’s why arguments criticising private cars are hard to get through,” Häyrynen says.

Cultural impediments to sustainability transformations thus reveal people's conventional ways of thinking and their attitudes towards authorities, for example. At the same time, they create meaning for nature. While Finns rely on strict certificates in organic farming, sheep farmers in Sardinia, Italy, feel that certificates are a manifestation of unnecessary bureaucracy and control by the central government.

When reacting to change, the old familiar attitude keeps coming up: everything was better before. Indeed, environmental policy is not just about formal rules and legal provisions, but also about emotional interpretations and their management.

“To be nostalgic is to be human. It is perfectly normal to get defensive about a change that will affect us and our everyday life.”

In questions relating to peat, the cultural impediments Finns have can be found in different everyday encounters.

“These are remarks made and heard in passing at, for example, public swimming pools or gas station cafés. Social media plays a big role in polarisation. In Finland too, it would be important to find a middle ground for the debate. With the extremes in conflict, it often seems like there is no room for negotiation,” Häyrynen says.

Suffering strikes emotion

Cultural impediments are good fuel for populist politics. When making environmental statements, politicians understand that references to, and quotes from, The Unknown Soldier, a classic Finnish war novel, resonate with people.

���n the face of major transitions, politicians know how to take advantage of cultural impediments, and certain politicians will do so with great skill. Formal environmental policy has little means to respond to such arguments.”

An emotional approach to environmental issues easily leads to “a hierarchy of suffering”, where someone’s suffering is somehow more important than someone else’s.

���’ve always found the hierarchy of suffering strange. Losing one’s job and livelihood always hurts, no matter if it happens in the textile, mining, or peat production industry, or if it’s due to a collapse in trade with the eastern neighbour, depletion of natural resources, or climate change.”

However, the pain caused by the loss of a livelihood seems to gain a different amount of public attention depending on how politically interesting it is. It has been easy to frame peat production in a way that artificially creates a divide between the rural and the urban, and that is also partially politically orchestrated. Peat is at the frontline when defending the existence and rights of rural areas. At the same time, it is a useful enemy for those seeking political support in cities. And when people end up arguing about the imbalances between the city and the countryside, the original purpose of the debate is lost.

“To some extent, we are still being held hostage by the past rhetoric of development and politics from years ago, which exaggerated the possibilities to continue burning peat, and its status as a renewable resource.”

According to Häyrynen, we should find effective ways to help those hurt by the change instead of getting stuck in a hierarchy of suffering.

���t is very difficult to calculate who suffers the most in absolute terms from any change. Instead, our preparedness for change – our competency of change – can always be increased. If we know that an industry is going to decline, we need to stop placing blame and find a forward-looking change strategy.”

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