Climate Citizens' Assemblies, Practical Workshop～ Focus on assemblies held in the Japan and the UK ～Case Studies of Climate Citizens’
Assemblies in the UK
Mikiko Kainuma, Tomoko Ishikawa
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies（IGES)
14 March 2024 (Thursday)What we are going to talk about• Climate Citizens' Assemblies/Juries in the UK• Characteristics of Citizens' Assemblies/Juries
in the UK• Impacts of Citizens' Assemblies/Juries

Climate Citizens'Assemblies/Juries
in the UK

Climate citizens’ assemblies have been held in many municipalities
that have declared net zero as a way to hear the voices of citizens.
Net Zero Declaration + Climate Citizens’ Assembly + Action Plan

㉜ Aberdeen (Jury/Panel)① Adur & Worthing ⑰ Jersey(Crown dependencies) ㉝ Barnet② Birmingham㉜㉞ Belfast⑱ Kendal③ Blackpool㉗㉟ Blackburn with Darwen⑲ Lambeth④ Blaenau Gwent㊱ Romsey⑳ Lanｃaster⑬⑤ Brent㊲ Shipley⑥ Brighton & Hove ㉑ Leeds㉕㊳ Southampton⑦ Bristol (COVID-19) ㉒ Leicester㊴ Nottingham (summer㉓ Manchester⑨⑧ Camden⑱㉞2024)㉔ Newham⑫ ⑳⑨ Copeland㊲③㉕ North of Tyne ㊵ Preston (Scheduled）⑩ Croydon㊵㉟ ㉑㉖ Oxford/Assem; ㊶ South Yorkshire㉓ ㊶⑪ Devon（ Scheduled）
Oxford/Jury㊻㊺ ㉚㉛㉒ ㊴⑫ Furness㊷㊹②㊼㉗ Scotland⑬ Glasgow⑯Community Assemblies㉙ ㉝⑧⑭㉘Southwark⑭ Greater Cambridge㊸㊷ Bro Ffestiniog⑤㉔㉖㉙ Warwick④ ⑦⑲⑮ Hackney㊸ Bude⑩㉘㉚Wolverhampton⑯ Herefordshire㊱①㊹ Deffryn Nantlle⑥㉛ UKCA㊳⑪㊺ Dyffryn Ogwen（Black: Assemblies; Red: Juries; Italics: ㊻ Dyffryn Peris⑰London boroughs; Underlined: after2023)㊼ Pen LlŷnSource: Based on KNOCA. https://knoca.eu/ and Citizens' Assemblies worldwide.
https://www.buergerrat.de/en/citizens-assemblies/citizens-assemblies-worldwide

The UK Climate Citizens' Assembly

Source:https://www.parlia
ment.uk/business/news/2020/septe
mber/climateassembly-uk-new/

Organiser: 6 House of Commons Select Committees, including theBusiness, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS); social activists suchas Extinction Rebellion also called for implementation (6 sessions
between Jan. and May 2020. 108 participants. Sessions 4-6 online.
Population: around 67 million).
Mission: To propose recommendations to make net zero a reality inthe UK by 2050. Three groups (mobility, in the home, andpurchasing/land use, food & agriculture) discussed separately, andenergy discussed by whole group.
Recommendation: Submitted in Sept. 2020, with over 50
recommendations, including increase of investment in low-emission
buses and trains; support for smaller organisations to provide
energy services; and putting wind and solar at the heart of the UK's
pathway to net zero.
Impact: BEIS Committee conducted a follow-up inquiry.

Scotland Climate Citizens' Assembly
Organiser: Held under the Scottish Climate Change Act.
Government and Parliament (7 sessions from Nov. 2020 to Mar.
2021, plus 8th session in Feb. 2022. 102 participants. Population:around 5.5 million)
Mission: To recommend how to achieve a 75% reduction by 2030
and net zero by 2045. Discussions were divided into three subgroups: Diet/Land use/Lifestyle, Home/Community, andWork/Travel. The members of the groups changed each time.
Recommendation: Submitted in June 2021. 81 recommendations in
16 areas including resources, building quality, standards andregulations, public transport, carbon labelling, education, land use,
https://www.gov.scot/publ
community, circular economy, taxation, and measuring progress.
ications/scottishCharacteristics: Included a children's assembly. One of a number ofgovernment-responsescotlands-climatemechanisms to incorporate citizens' views, including open
assemblyrecommendations-action/ government, participatory budgeting, and the Just Transition
Committee. Source: Based on Institute for the Dialogue of Environmental Policy reporthttps://cdn.goope.jp/61503/221028213754-635bcd22a8da0.pdf

Camden Climate Citizens' Assembly
Organiser: Camden Council (3 sessions in July 2019.
Approx. 50 participants. Population: around 270,000).
Mission: To recommend how Camden should respond tothe climate crisis.
Recommendation: Submitted Sept. 2019. 17 actions,
https://www.camden.gov.uk/
documents/20142/0/Camde including zero-carbon new homes, tree planting, more
n+Citizens%27+Assembly+
segregated cycle lanes, and the creation of a climate
on+the+Climate+Crisis++Report.pdf/947eb4e5panel of experts and residents.
5623-17a1-996446f351446548

Impact: Camden Council established climate panels. The first panel
consisted of 15 members and met quarterly for two years from Oct. 2020.
The second phase (2022-2025) will meet three times a year until early2025. Camden Council is also inviting public feedback online to ensure thatthe views of the public are reflected in the Climate Action Plan.

Oxford Climate Citizens' Assembly

https://www.oxford.gov.uk/downlo
ads/file/2040/oxf
ord-citizensassembly-onclimate-changereport

Organiser: Oxford Council (two sessions in Sept. andOct. 2019. 42 participants. Population: around 150,000)
Mission: To answer the questions: Should Oxford seek toachieve ‘net zero’ sooner than 2050? What trade-offs are
we prepared to make to achieve this?
Recommendation: Discussions based on submitted
scenarios on buildings, transport, renewable energy,biodiversity and offsets, and waste. Voted on 20 Oct.
2019. Example recommendation: ‘more education andinformation to understand what can be done individually’.
Impact: Reflected in the Sustainability Strategy (2020),including the Climate Action Plan.

Oxford Climate Citizens’ Jury
Organiser: The University of Oxford (four sessions in Juneand July 2022, 16 participants).
Mission: To determine how people can move aroundOxford in a climate-friendly way that improves health.
Recommendation: Report to Council in September 2022.
Recommendations included bus priority features, free or
low-cost bus travel for young people, disabled residents
and the over-55s, and school bus schemes.
Characteristics: Use of Street Voice. Citizens' Jury aims tolink transport, climate, and health measures.
https://www.gchu.org.uk/
Recommendations submitted to Oxfordshire County
2022/06/streetvoiceCouncil.
citizens-jury-firstsession/

Characteristics of climate citizens’ assemblies• Random selection of participants, taking into account age, area ofresidence, opinions, income, etc. The size of assemblies/juries ranges
from 25 to 150 people. There are usually about six sessions.
• Participants learn the latest knowledge through presentations byseveral experts.
• Deliberative discussions take place among the participants.
• Discussions are often supported by expert facilitators.
• Policy recommendations are proposed.
• Leads to behavioural change among participants. Leads to increased
citizen confidence in government.

Why are there so many climate citizens’ assemblies in the UK?

⚫Net Zero Declaration + Climate Citizens’ Assembly + Action Plan
Citizen action is essential to achieve net zero. Many local
authorities have incorporated the recommendations of Climate
Citizens' Assemblies into their action plans.
⚫ To deepen understanding of climate change action.
It is important to have accurate, science-based information. The
Climate Citizens' Assemblies include expert presentations, followed
by deliberations and the preparation of recommendations.
⚫To raise the interest of citizens who do not participate in theClimate Citizens’ Assemblies.
Many municipalities invite input from the general public. Interest
can also be raised through media coverage.

Areas of potential impact of climate citizens’
assemblies⚫Policy: Impact on public policy and political decisionmaking⚫Society: Impact on public discourse and public,
business, and civil society engagement⚫Systemic: Impact on democratic systems and systemsthinking
Source: Demski & Capstick (2022) Impact evaluation framework for climate assemblies. Version 1.0

Potential impacts of climate assemblies
Instrumental
Conceptual impacts
impacts
Climate policy
Policy-makers knowledge andand legislation
understanding of diverseand resulting
public perspectives
Policy climate action
Clarification of roles andPoliticalresponsibilities indebate/positions climate action
Public climate
Different perspectives on
action/behaviour climate policy issues
Media practices Understanding of climate
Society and coveragechange and climate action
Practices inClarifying responsibilities forbusinessclimate action
Democratic
Understanding of the use ofsystems/forms of deliberative processes
Understanding of climate
Systemic governance
Systems-thinking change as a challenge to more
fundamental aspects of society

Capacity-building impacts
Focus on specific climaterecommendations andpolicy areas
Political coalitions,networks, or cross-party
cooperation
Businesses and third-sector
organisations to support new
climate action initiatives
Enabling key groups insociety to participate indecision-making
The use of deliberative
processes and new forms ofgovernanceTackling climate change
from a systems perspective

What we talked about today.
• Climate Citizens' Assemblies/Juries in the UK• Characteristics of Citizens' Assemblies/Juries
in the UK• Impacts of Citizens' Assemblies/Juries

Thank you for your attention.