Carbon offset; citizens; emission reductions; survey; voluntary carbon markets; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Abstract :
[en] Voluntary carbon offsets are a rapidly growing market and claims related to offsetting and carbon neutrality are visible in citizens’ daily lives. Proponents suggest that carbon offsetting offers a cost-effective way to incentivize climate action while critics discuss offsetting as an opaque and dysfunctional practice. Previous studies have examined citizens’ perceptions principally through quantitative data, and especially by economic choice experiments. As voluntary carbon offsetting is unsettled in citizen’s everyday lives, we argue that such studies overlook the more subtle ways in which this is happening. To address these ways in detail, we conducted a multi-method analysis of a nationally representative survey (n = 1000) in Finland. The closed questions of the survey were first analysed quantitatively, and the insights then enriched by a qualitative analysis of the open questions. The combined results highlight citizens’ views and understandings as uncertain and ambivalent: despite a widespread willingness to address climate change, there is little unreserved support for voluntary carbon offsetting and distrust towards the sector is high. Our study cautions against placing high hopes in individuals’ voluntary carbon offsetting as a form of climate action.
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology Sociology & social sciences
Author, co-author :
Karhunmaa, Kamilla ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de science politique ; Department of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Salmivaara, Saara; Department of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Varho, Vilja; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland
Virtanen, Mikko J.; Department of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Eerikäinen, Tapio; Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland
Vainio, Annukka; Department of Forest Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland ; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Sciences (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Language :
English
Title :
Settling an unsettled phenomenon: citizens’ views and understandings of voluntary carbon offsetting in Finland
Natural Resources Institute Finland Kone Foundation Emil Aaltonen Fundation
Funding text :
We gratefully acknowledge funding by Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) for ‘Soil carbon concepts’ (SOCOS) project and by Kone Foundation for the ‘Making do with climate change’ (Climakedo) project. Kamilla Karhunmaa acknowledges funding from Säätiöiden post doc –pooli, Emil Aaltonen foundation. We thank participants at the Finnish Society for Environment Social Science yearly colloquium in November 2021 for their comments.
Ahonen, H.-M., Möllersten, K., & Spalding-Fecher, R. (2021). Voluntary compensation of greenhouse gas emissions: International guidance and intiatives. https://pub.norden.org/temanord2021-541/#
Berger, S., Kilchenmann, A., Lenz, O., & Schlöder, F. (2022). Willingness-to-pay for carbon dioxide offsets: Field evidence on revealed preferences in the aviation industry. Global Environmental Change, 73, 102470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2022.102470
Blasch, J., & Farsi, M. (2014). Context effects and heterogeneity in voluntary carbon offsetting–A choice experiment in Switzerland. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, 3 (1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/21606544.2013.842938
Blum, M. (2020). The legitimation of contested carbon markets after Paris–Empirical insights from market stakeholders. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22 (2), 226–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2019.1697658
Bravo, G., & Farjam, M. (2022). Actions speak louder than words: Attitudes, behaviour, and partisan identity in a polarised environmental domain. Energy Research & Social Science, 90, 102547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102547
Chung, J., & Moore, G. S. (2003). Exploring social desirability bias. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (4), 291–302. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023648703356
Dalsgaard, S. (2022). Tales of carbon offsets: Between experiments and indulgences? Journal of Cultural Economy, 15 (1), 52–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1977675
Donofrio, S., Maguire, P., Myers, K., Daley, C., & Lin, K. (2021). Markets in Motion: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets in 2021. https://www.forest-trends.org/publications/state-of-the-voluntary-carbon-markets-2021/
Frewer, T. (2021). What exactly do REDD+ projects produce? A materialist analysis of carbon offset production from a REDD+ project in Cambodia. Political Geography, 91, 102480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102480
Gössling, S., & Dolnicar, S. (2023). A review of air travel behavior and climate change. WIRES Climate Change, 14 (1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.802
Günther, S. A., Staake, T., Schöb, S., & Tiefenbeck, V. (2020). The behavioral response to a corporate carbon offset program: A field experiment on adverse effects and mitigation strategies. Global Environmental Change, 64, 102123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102123
Hamrick, K., & Gallant, M. (2017). Unlocking potential: State of the voluntary carbon markets 2017. https://www.forest-trends.org/publications/unlocking-potential/
Howard, R. J., Tallontire, A., Stringer, L., & Marchant, R. (2015). Unraveling the notion of “fair carbon”: Key challenges for standards development. World Development, 70, 343–356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.02.008
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15 (9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Hukkanen, V., & Kanerva, J. (2020). Toimittaja hyvitti kesälomamatkansa päästöt kolmen eri palvelun avulla–hyvitys jäi epävarmaksi, koska alalta puuttuvat säännöt. YLE News. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11525289
Karhunmaa, K. (2016). Opening up storylines of co-benefits in voluntary carbon markets: An analysis of household energy technology projects in developing countries. Energy Research & Social Science, 14, 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.01.011
Karhunmaa, K., Pitkänen, O., & Tuominen, V. (2015). Assessing the co-benefits of household energy technology carbon offset projects. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2019052116304
Konsumentverket. (2020). Klimatpåståenden. Svåra att förstå för konsumenter. https://www.konsumentverket.se/globalassets/publikationer/hallbarhet-och-miljo/klimatpastaenden-i-marknadsforing-2020-konsumentverket.pdf
Kreibich, N., & Hermwille, L. (2021). Caught in between: Credibility and feasibility of the voluntary carbon market post-2020. Climate Policy, 21 (7), 939–957. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2021.1948384
Laine, A., Airaksinen, J., Yliheljo, E., Ahonen, H.-M., & Halonen, M. (2021). Vapaaehtoisten päästökompensaatioiden sääntely. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-361-408-6
Laine, A., Auer, J., Halonen, M., Horne, P., Karikallio, H., & Kilpinen, S. (2021). Esiselvitys maankäyttö sektorin hiilikompensaatiohankkeista. https://mmm.fi/documents/1410837/22876822/Esiselvitys+maankäyttösektorin+hiilikompensaatiohankkeista_julkaistava+raporttiversio_27.1.2021.pdf/485cb89f-6c7a-b1a8-bb88-200021861238/Esiselvitys+maankäyttösektorin+hiilikompensaatiohankkeista_julkaistava+rapor
Lehmann, I. (2019). When cultural political economy meets ‘charismatic carbon’ marketing: A gender-sensitive view on the limitations of Gold Standard cookstove offset projects. Energy Research & Social Science, 55, 146–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.05.001
Leipola, L. (2021). Anekauppaa vai ilmastotekoja? Vapaaehtoisen päästökompensaation kysyntä, tarjonta ja laatu Suomessa. https://finnwatch.org/images/reports_pdf/Anekauppaa_vai_ilmastotekoja_small_size.pdf
Lohmann, L. (2006). Development dialogue. Carbon trading: A critical conversation on climate change, privatisation and power. https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20838312
Lovell, H., Bulkeley, H., & Liverman, D. (2009). Carbon offsetting: Sustaining consumption? Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 41 (10), 2357–2379. https://doi.org/10.1068/a40345
MacKerron, G. J., Egerton, C., Gaskell, C., Parpia, A., & Mourato, S. (2009). Willingness to pay for carbon offset certification and co-benefits among (high-)flying young adults in the UK. Energy Policy, 37 (4), 1372–1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.11.023
Niemistö, J., Seppälä, J., Karvonen, J., & Soimakallio, S. (2021). Päästökompensaatiot ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnän keinona Suomessa–nyt ja tulevaisuudessa. https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/162987
Pennanen, R. (2021). Hiilineutraalius Hyvitätkö lomalentosi päästöt rahalla? Vapaaehtoisissa päästöhyvityksissä on mahdollisuus todellisiin ilmastotekoihin, mutta myös viherpesuun. YLE News. https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11926169
Ritchie, B. W., Kemperman, A., & Dolnicar, S. (2021). Which types of product attributes lead to aviation voluntary carbon offsetting among air passengers? Tourism Management, 85, 104276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104276
Silvast, A., & Virtanen, M. J. (2023). On theory–methods packages in science and technology studies. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 48 (1), 167–189. https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439211040241
Statistics Finland. (2022). Population structure. Statistics Finland’s PX-Web Databases. https://pxdata.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/en/StatFin/
Stern, P. C., Dietz, T., & Kalof, L. (1993). Value orientations, gender, and environmental concern. Environment and Behavior, 25 (5), 322–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916593255002
Thaler, R. (1985). Mental accounting and consumer choice. Marketing Science, 4 (3), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.4.3.199
Virtanen, M. J. (2019). What kind of ‘a girls’ thing’? Frictions and continuities in the framing and taming of the HPV vaccine in Finland. Sociology of Health & Illness, 41 (4), 789–805. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12853
Wang, Y., & Corson, C. (2015). The making of a ‘charismatic’ carbon credit: Clean cookstoves and ‘uncooperative’ women in western Kenya. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 47 (10), 2064–2079. https://doi.org/10.1068/a130233p
Wei, J., Zhao, K., Zhang, L., Yang, R., & Wang, M. (2021). Exploring development and evolutionary trends in carbon offset research: A bibliometric perspective. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28 (15), 18850–18869. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12908-8
Zhang, B., Ritchie, B. W., Mair, J., & Driml, S. (2022). Air passengers’ preferences for aviation voluntary carbon offsetting: A co-benefits perspective. Journal of Travel Research, 61 (6), 1437–1457. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211030340
