Recent developments of climate assemblies in the UK and Europe •  Professor Stephen Elstub •  Newcastle University • stephen.elstub@ncl.ac.uk • @StephenElstub Overview The need for climate assemblies The logic of climate assemblies Climate assemblies in Europe Climate assembly lessons and future directions
• Public as spectators in CC debates • Certain groups underrepresented on climate issues • Increase public understanding of the problems caused by CC • Stronger public consent for the policies required to address CC • Can enable more ambitious policy making • Stimulate more climate-sensitive behaviour change amongst the public •  Legitimate and just decisions Problems with Political Participation 1. Demographically skewed 2. Uninformed 3. Closed-minded Limitations of Representative Democracy in Climate Governance • Electoral incentives • Short-term political cycles • Media narratives • Lobbying • Climate delay discourses
• Type of citizens' assembly • Focus on an aspect of climate governance • Representative or diverse sample of citizens • Barriers to participation lowered • Balanced information • Facilitated discussion • Recommendations • Institutional Link The Logic of Climate Assemblies • Inclusion • Openminded • Deliberation • Learning • Opinion change • Recommendations Figure: Deliberation is being used to solve long term issues, in particular environmental topics Number of times a policy issue has been addressed through a representative deliberative process include agriculture; consumer protection; migration; water management; youth. Source: OECD Deliberative Democracy Database (2023). 2000 Climate Assembly UK
Assembly Cifizer Assemb aoranach BÜRGERRAT
• Climate on the agenda • Decline in trust in government • The ‘successes’ of the Irish CAs • Social movements e.g. Extinction Rebellion • Public engagement practitioners  • • Proximity of municipalities & nation states • Aim to influence the public Comparing European Climate Assemblies: Similarities • Familiar CA format • Mitigation dominates over adaptation • Broad Scope • One-off/ ad hoc Achievements of  Climate Assemblies • Diverse groups assembled • Inclusive and respectful deliberation achieved • Knowledge on climate change and decarbonisation increases • Assembly members think net zero is more achievable • Recommendations more ambitious than current policy
•  Remit (agent & breadth) •  Evidence & information •  Process design & facilitation • Duration • Budget •  Governance (civil servants, parliament, practitioners, AMs, experts, stakeholders) • Publicity • Institutional integration •  Policy take-up Col ens Brussels Permanent Climate Assembly •  Started in February 2023 •   65-100 Assembly Members •  Annual rotation •  Each panel addresses a sub-theme of Brussels’ climate policy •  Agenda chosen by previous assembly • Topics to date: habitat and food •  Commission that monitors response to recommendations la ville de demoin
1. Citizens’ assembly model works on climate 2. Climate assembly model is transferable across many contexts 3. Diffusion to other parts of the globe 4. More transnational climate assemblies 5. Challenge of scope and time 6. More focus on adaptation and systems change 7. Democratise climate assemblies 8. Broader public engagement 9. Integrate with other climate engagement routes 10. Improved communication 11.   Institutionalised/ embedded climate assemblies 12. Concern this is a trend that dissipates
Resources
•  Evaluation of Climate Assembly UK: https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/get- involved2/climate-assembly-uk/evaluation-of-climate-assembly-uk.pdf •   ‘The Scope of Climate Assemblies: Lessons from the Climate Assembly UK’, Sustainability 13, no. 20: 11272 (2021). Open access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/20/11272 •   ‘The Impact of Climate Assemblies on Formal and Informal Publics Spheres: The Case of Climate Assembly UK’, in The Impact of Democratic Innovations, Colchester: ECPR Press, pp. 139-160. (2023) open access: https://pure.unamur.be/ws/portalfiles/portal/91415928/The Impacts of Democratic Innovations PDF Online.pdf#page=155 •  Scotland's Climate Assembly Research Report: ttps://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781804353073 •  Global Assembly On The Climate And Ecological Crisis Evaluation Report: https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/82182314/G lobal Assembly Evaluation Report.pdf •  Forthcoming 2024/25: Climate Assemblies: New Civic Institutions for a Climate-changed World, De Gruyter.