Deliberating low-carbon transport— Citizens’ jury on policy measures to curb emissions from passenger cars in an effective and fair manner

Road transport accounts for one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions in Finland and therefore rapid and profound transitions are needed in the transport sector to achieve the national goal of carbon neutrality by 2035. The most effective policy measures to curb transport emissions include negative economic incentives such as congestion fees and an increase in the tax on automobile fuel. However, these measures have distributional impacts, and their implementation is politically challenging. The pressing question, then, is how to put into action ambitious traffic policies to reach the carbon neutrality targets in an effective, just and socially acceptable manner. In this paper, we analyse a citizens’ jury (CJ) process that was organized in the Uusimaa region, Finland, to address the ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars. A four-day CJ with 40 jurors will be convened in April 2022 in collaboration with the Uusimaa Regional Council. We present the results of the CJ and discuss them in the light of theory-based assumptions on environmental deliberation: Did the jurors learn about traffic policy measures and their impacts and reflect on their initial positions and interests on the matter? Did they develop a concern for others and shift their positions towards less self-interested ones? And were the citizens more able to adopt a long-term perspective on transport transitions than politicians who have to balance between different short-term interests? We also explore the ways in which policymakers receive the CJ results and utilize them in decision-making processes. The analysis is based on participant observation, interpretive analysis of transcribed CJ discussions, pre- and post-treatment questionnaires as well as application of Q-method with the jurors. The policymakers’ views are examined using questionnaires and in-depth interviews.