It's mostly about the length of the feedback loop. If we realize instantly that the company/person/behavior is harmful or against our best intentions, we adapt quickly. "The Free Market" (there has never been any such thing) responds well to this. However, when you extend the feedback loop a year, two years, ten years, and more.. well, humans aren't cut out for that kind of forward thinking. There is plenty of proof for this, the easiest is looking at debt, diet, drinking, and smoking behavior. We prioritize today much more than tomorrow, and tomorrow much more than a decade in the future.
The idea that a free market exists is already antiquated. The idea that "The Free Market" adapts to consumer behavior in an efficient manner is laughable even in the most libertarian of circles. This isn't an opinion or idea, it's easily validated. The ideology of the "free market" ignores what economists and psychologists have learned over the last 50 years, because it's a lot easier to adhere to an ideology with black and white than to acknowledge nuance.
The biggest problem with climate change action is that the feedback loop is too long. Today's airline flight has some vague impact on tomorrow's issues. If airplanes crashed instantly, killing the number of people that their emissions might eventually, I bet we'd make changes rapidly.