Akureyri on the Verge: Carbon Neutral and Beyond Through Targeted Social Marketing

Abstract

Akureyri, Iceland, possesses a lot of natural advantages when seeking carbon neutrality. Even so, at a time when many municipalities, regions, or even states and nations are looking at becoming carbon neutral by the middle of the century, at best, Akureyri is already on the verge. And this is not easy. Carbon neutrality is achieved when carbon emissions (usually energy generation) are matched or exceeded by carbon removal (e.g., sequestration, planting trees). Looking more closely at this exemplar city allows us to study a question that will face every sustainability campaign at some point, how does the community go the last mile? What happens after mass campaigns are generally successful? Success will create an environment calling for different approaches, and the experiences of those first crossing this threshold can be instructive for others. More specific to social marketing, what happens when you move from a successful mass market approach to one more targeted at remaining micro-segments or even individual entities needing tailored solutions?