My space: Governing individuals' carbon emissions

In recent years, there has been a veritable explosion of projects designed to enable individuals to ‘do their bit’ in the struggle to limit climate change. Previously, the focus of action had been on states and firms, but in the early 2000s this started to be complemented by a focus on individual practice. For example, in 2006 the UK environment minister proposed a system of Personal Carbon Allowances. Others have exhorted us to go on a low-carbon diet. There are now many organizations offering to help you measure and manage your carbon footprint, or to go ‘carbon neutral’ through carbon offsetting. Community groups have established voluntary carbon rationing systems. All of these practices have been accompanied by a plethora of books focusing on ‘what you can do’ to help limit climate change (e.g. Goodall 2007; Marshall 2007; Reay 2006; Spence 2005). The common denominator in all of these projects is the focus on individual practice in relation to climate change. We invoke the metaphor of ‘My Space’ deliberately. It is suggestive of how the forms of individualization in these projects simultaneously operate through the sorts of communicative rationality involved like those in ‘Web 2.0’ technologies like Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Jaiku, Tagged and Flickr. At the same time, the phrase implies the appropriation of climate change for an individual, almost narcissistic subject, who thinks of ‘their emissions’ and their responsibilities regarding them. But this subject, while narcissistic, is also forced to problematize her/his practices through peer pressure, comparison and communication.