How politicians and the population attribute responsibility for climate change mitigation: no indication of a ‘governance trap’ in Norway

Abstract

Previous research claims that ‘the most significant risk’ to achieving climate change mitigation goals is the ‘governance trap’, whereby governments and the public attribute responsibility for action to one another. While it is well documented that individuals call for political action on climate change, there is limited knowledge about how politicians attribute responsibility for climate change mitigation. The present study examines whether there is evidence of a ‘governance trap’ in Norway, by using two online surveys to compare how politicians (N = 1211) and the population (N = 2030) attribute responsibility for climate change mitigation to individuals, the local and regional authorities, the national authorities, the international community, and business and industry. Contrary to expectations, politicians and the population attribute responsibility to the actors in the same order. Thereby, the study contests the assumption that governments attribute primary responsibility for climate change mitigation to the population.