A-7/17 Farmers as climate citizens
This article explores the potential for farmers to become climate citizens. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we analyse how Norwegian farmers relate to climate change in their everyday farming practises. After discussing the concepts of environmental and ecological citizenship, we propose the climate citizen approach to meet the challenges that climate change poses to agriculture. Until now, Norwegian farmers’ response to climate change has been limited. Major changes in farming practises seem unlikely without incentives from the state. A climate citizen approach can help balance a response to institutional regulations and policies with the individual moral obligation to take personal and non-reciprocal responsibility for the planet. In order to influence how farmers might incorporate climate change awareness into their everyday practises, policy makers should take existing norms and values in the agricultural community into account and adopt clear and manageable instruments to reward farmers for taking adaptive measures. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2017.1381075