Settling an unsettled phenomenon: citizens’ views and understandings of voluntary carbon offsetting in Finland

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 (<i>n</i> = 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.

自愿碳抵消（Voluntary Carbon Offsets）市场正处于快速扩张阶段，与碳抵消及碳中和相关的各类宣称随处可见于民众日常生活之中。支持者认为，碳抵消是一种兼具成本效益的气候行动激励手段；而批评者则将其斥为不透明且运作失当的机制。过往相关研究多通过定量数据开展民众认知探究，尤以经济选择实验为主要手段。鉴于自愿碳抵消在民众日常生活中的渗透尚未定型，我们认为此类研究忽略了该现象发生的更细微路径。为详细剖析这些路径，我们针对芬兰开展了一项具有全国代表性的抽样调查（样本量n=1000），并采用多方法分析框架。研究首先对问卷中的封闭式问题进行定量分析，随后通过对开放式问题的质性分析进一步丰富研究结论。综合分析结果显示，民众对自愿碳抵消的认知呈现出不确定与矛盾交织的特征：尽管多数民众愿意参与气候行动，但鲜有人对自愿碳抵消持完全支持态度，且该行业的公众信任度普遍偏低。本研究警示，不应将个人自愿碳抵消作为气候行动的核心依赖手段并寄予过高期望。