Green consumer markets in the fight against climate change

Abstract

Climate change has become one of the greatest threats to environmental security, as attested by the growing frequency of severe flooding and storms, extreme temperatures and droughts. Accordingly, the European Union's (EU) 6th Environment Action Programme (2010) lists tackling climate change as its first priority. A key aim of the EU has been to cut CO₂ emissions, a major factor in climate change, by 8 per cent until 2012 and 20 per cent until 2020. The European Commission has proposed the encouragement of private consumer market for green products and services as one of several solutions to this problem. However, existing research suggests that the market share of these products has been only 3 per cent, although 30 per cent of individuals favour environmental and ethical goods. This article uses Public Goods Theory to explain why the contribution of the green consumer market to fighting climate change has been and possibly may remain limited without further public intervention.

Keywords:

• environmental security
• Public Goods Theory
• climate change

Notes

1. Some studies conceptualise the issue of climate change as an unintended cost, i.e. a negative externality to other public and private goods, or as a public ‘bad’. See also the introduction to this issue. This article adopts a reverse psychology by viewing the fight against climate change as a positive good in order to explain its commodification rather than collective action problems.

2. This and the following sections present the supply of green cars, electricity and off-sets as of 2009, for which the latest EU statistics on CO_s emissions were available at the time of writing. Follow-up research in 2011 shows that neither the range of cars and their CO₂ emissions nor that of ‘green’ electricity schemes examined in the next section had changed significantly.

3. Ford ‘ECOnetic’ Series: Fiesta (98 g/km), Focus (114–115 g/km) and Mondeo (139 g/km); Vauxhall ‘ecoFLEX’ Series: Agila (119–120 g/km), Corsa (105–119 g/km), Astra (119 g/km), Zafira (139 g/km) and Insignia (136 g/km); Volkswagen ‘Blue Motion’ Series: Polo (99 g/km), Golf (127 g/km), Golf Estate (122 g/km), Jetta (122 g/km), Passat (128 g/km), Touran (144 g/km), Sharan 2.0 (159 g/km); Toyota Prius (104 g/km), Aygo (108 g/km), Yaris (119–136 g/km), Auris (131 g/km); Audi SE 1.4 TFSI (113 g/km); Audi SE and Standard 1.9TDIe engine (119 g/km); Audi SE 2.0 TDI engine (134 g/km).

4. See http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/FordECOnetic; also Volkswagen, http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/volkswagen-world/environment/blue-motion

5. See http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/volkswagen-world/environment/blue-motion and http://www.ford.co.uk/Cars/FordECOnetic

6. The government requirement increases every year and was set at 11.1 per cent in 2010–11.

7. In 2011, it was replaced by the governmental ‘Approved Carbon Offsetting’ quality mark.

8. UK, government, Act on CO2, ‘Offsetting’, at: http://campaigns2.direct.gov.uk/actonco2/home/features/offsetting.html [accessed 2009]. Since then four additional have been awarded the government's ‘Approved Carbon Offsetting’ mark, namely Carbon Retirement, The International Air Transport Association (IATA), TAP Portugal, EON and Buying Solutions. The latter is notable for being ‘part of the Efficiency and Reform Group within the Cabinet Office’. See http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/Thewiderenvironment/DG_070060 [Accessed 15 September 2011].

9. The Carbon Neutral Company, at: http://www.carbonneutral.com/pages/businesscanbenefit.asp

10. The target will be introduced progressively, rising from 75 per cent compliance in 2013 and 80 per cent in 2014 to 100 per cent in 2015.