Consumers Can't Tackle Climate Change Alone: Why the Energy Sector Needs to Take Responsibility
Energy market actors such as utility companies, policymakers, and NGOs, attempt to tackle climate change by framing consumers as “net-zero heroes” who are responsible for achieving net-zero emissions, despite the significant climate effects of industrial activities and the energy sector itself. This strategy reflects a trend known as “consumer responsibilization,” where companies and organizations encourage consumers to bear the burden of addressing environmental issues. The authors of this study find that the concept of the “net-zero hero” creates a paradox in which consumers are encouraged to take on heroic roles in combating climate change, but without adequate support from the broader energy market, these efforts are often insufficient to drive meaningful systemic change. The research suggests that assigning responsibility in this way can discourage consumers, making them feel overwhelmed and disillusioned. For instance, BP’s “carbon footprint calculator” is a real-world example of how companies may encourage individuals to track and reduce their personal emissions while downplaying BP’s own contributions to global carbon output. This framing not only shifts blame but also creates unrealistic expectations for consumers, who often lack the resources or influence to make substantial environmental impacts alone. The authors recommend that for consumer responsibilization to be effective, it must be accompanied by supportive actions from companies and policymakers such as investing in renewable energy, creating more sustainable products, and enacting policies that facilitate consumer choices aligned with sustainability goals.
For more Research Insights, click here.
What You Need to Know
- Solely assigning climate responsibility to consumers (the “net-zero hero” narrative) is insufficient—systemic support from companies is necessary for impactful change.
- Sustainability initiatives that integrate consumer engagement with authentic corporate actions are a more comprehensive approach to emission reductions.
- Corporations can support consumers’ climate efforts by providing practical resources and clear commitments of their own, enhancing trust and long-term participation in sustainability initiatives.
Abstract
The energy sector is the largest contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. To address the current climate emergency however, energy market actors (e.g., energy providers, nongovernmental organizations, policy makers) try to make individual consumers take responsibility for achieving an overall net balance of zero greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this research is to understand this process of responsibilization and its implications. The research method is a narrative discourse analysis of hundreds of public documents by energy market actors. The findings show that market actors try to shape ordinary consumers into “net-zero heroes” with responsibility for emissions reduction but end up creating a tragedy when they translate their collective agenda. These findings have implications for consumer responsibilization specifically and the conversion of agendas into action more generally. Theoretically, this research shows (1) the influence of the translation stage in the agenda-to-action chain, (2) the way market actors attempt to form net-zero heroes, and (3) the limited usefulness of the hero narrative. Practically, the research explains the implications of making consumers solely responsible for the emissions reduction problem.
Tom van Laer and Morgan E. Smith, “Responsibilizing the Net-Zero Hero? Creation and Implications of a Tragic Subject Position,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. doi:10.1177/07439156241300997.