Abstract
This paper explores the carbon dependency of life in four villages in England, the degree to which residents in these villages are aware of and concerned about this dependency and its relationship to climate change, and the extent to which they undertake actions that might mitigate or adapt to this dependency. The paper identifies high degrees of carbon dependency and awareness and concern about climate change and carbon dependency, although relatively low levels of mitigative or adaptive actions. The paper explores how this disjuncture between awareness and actions persists, arguing that attention needs to be paid to how people narrate stories to themselves and others that account for inaction. Five narratives of non-transition or stasis are identified, along with three, less widely adopted, narratives of transition. The significance of rurality and emotions within these narratives is highlighted.
Highlights
This paper explores the carbon dependency of life in four villages in England, the degree to which residents in these villages are aware of and concerned about this dependency and its relationship to climate change, and the extent to which they undertake actions that might mitigate or adapt to this dependency
Such ideas figure to an increasing extent within geography and within the wider social sciences, where they form the focus of numerous empirical studies and theoretical reflections, with influential social theorists reframing conceptions of society through references to climate change and transitions from carbon dependency to a low- or post-carbon future
The paper draws on research conducted as part of Research Council UK’s Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme that sought to understand the potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities within communities in the local authority districts of East Lindsey, Harborough and West Berkshire (Fig. 1)
Summary
‘‘The last few years have seen a growing scientific consensus about human influence on climate and the significant risks posed by climate change . . . Policy-makers have responded by implementing policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions . . . Yet, this discourse of consensus . . . contrasts with the cacophony of opinions expressed by others within society. Drawing on the concept of ‘narratives to the self’, the paper identifies narratives of stasis, or non-transition, and narratives that foster actions to mitigate or adapt to climate change and carbon energy dependency. A common concern within such psycho-social research and ABC framework studies is the presence of disjunctures between expressions of concern about climate change and carbon dependency, and adoption of practices to address these, with a series of studies identifying levels of the former far exceeding levels of the latter (see Bulkeley, 2000; Norton and Leaman, 2004; Poortinga and Pidgeon, 2003; Poortinga et al, 2006; Upham et al, 2009; Whitmarsh, 2009, 2011). Carbon dependency and climate change: a study of awareness and actions in three English rural districts
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