Abstract
There is no one single way for citizens to organize to spark definite change, but several are key. Many attempts at organizing public effort come from grassroots movements, somewhat similar to bottom-up approaches. Some efforts seek to foster attention by undertaking socially undesirable actions, while others use more coordination, for instance by combining pro-climate stances with equitable growth. Both approaches can play a role in increasing social acceptance of climate change mitigation. This policy piece considers historical examples, highlighting the need to question short-term gain over long-term growth. Citizen 150 conferences, an increasingly popular measure that proves general citizens' concern for climate change, receives special attention and discusses a case of climate litigation. Several policy recommendations, mainly advocating for greater cooperation between community and government-based initiatives are considered as well-suited to accelerate climate change mitigation now.
For a long time there have been meetings held on climate change, to little avail. Nowadays any video on climate change will almost certainly feature archival footage of a climate scientist telling some political committee that climate change is real and attests to it having devastating future effects. Today, this is old news. Over the last four decades people have increasingly experienced the effects of climate change. There has always been a difference in the way this is framed and experienced. Popular media might tend to give people an idea of one catastrophic event wiping humanity away, such as in the 2004 film The Day After Tomorrow, however that ice age is not quite here yet. Rather, it seems like climate change has occurred in more subtle ways than we previously imagined, with small, but increasing temperature fluctuations, warmer summers, and greater volatility in crop yields.
Climate scientists have been outspoken, advocating for change sooner rather than later. It seems inherent to human nature to postpone action, then invest considerable effort as the point of no returns nears. It is worrisome that much of the effort for climate change mitigation happens in the last possible phases. It would, however, be a mistake to look at these last-minute attempts as the sole savior of the planet. Much like the climate scientist trying to warn friend & foe decades ago, ordinary citizens have been at work for millennia, not just to reverse the effects of climate change today, but also to inhabit the earth more sustainably.
Some examples are more dispersed, with some mainly concerning food security, while others are highly political in nature. An example of this is regenerative farming, where land is exploited in such a way that benefits soil quality. Common practices such as tilling lead to less nutrient-dense soils, not only degrading land quality but also spawning salinization, a process difficult to reverse. A more political example is that of the seventh-generation principle, based on an Iroquois philosophy (Bob), urging people of today to take the wellbeing of the subsequent seven generations into consideration (Bob). Records of this concept date back to 1142 CE (Bob) and can be a driver of shifting focus from short term to a longer term. Matters regarding water, energy and natural resources can be suitable for suchs decisions. An increasingly popular measure taken by nowadays individuals is adopting diets that are no longer meat-centric. A leading cause of deforestation is the amount of water and feed that cattle require to be turned into meat and dairy (WWF).
Combating climate change can be an uphill battle, and leaving things to the individual can be overwhelming. There is a multitude of organizers who are able to attract attention and help the environment through citizen effort. One example is Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, which aims to avoid reaching the ecological point of no return (Gaffney). This movement has received frequent media attention, especially for actions such as their occupancy of the headquarters of a pension fund investing in fossil fuels (Gerrits). Conspicuously different approaches are also found, such as the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), an alliance of over 200 environmentally conscious entities, advocating for improvement in public health and the creation of equitable & clean jobs. They, after more than three years, proved instrumental in legislative change leading to the groundbreaking Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021 (ICJC).
One case to highlight is that of Urgenda, a Dutch foundation which helped to solidify environmental policy on a national, European and international level by filing a lawsuit against the Dutch government. State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation was heard by the Dutch Supreme Court in 2019 where its justices decided that the government was lacking in its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, therefore inducing harmful climate change and ultimately endangering human rights of Dutch citizens (Santen and Walle; Harvey). This led to the speeding up of closure of certain coal plants (Reuters) and also was cause for PM’s Rutte cabinet to take on a more ambitious goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions reduction from 40% by 2030, as earlier court rulings directed (High Court; Urgenda) to 49% by 2030 (Nelsen). The Urgenda foundation dealt with much public backlash but now marks an important point in climate change litigation (Nachmany et al.).
Another important example of cooperation between citizens and government is a newer concept, called Citizens Convention for Climate (Courant). In this case a government randomly selects 150 citizens, usually people between the ages of 16 and 80, to come together to discuss, explore, and draft climate laws. Eventually, this leads them to discuss new proposals and other legislative measures with the goal of drafting actual laws to tackle climate change much more ambitiously than governments have in the past (Courant). In democracies, people normally are invited to vote for a representative so they will not have to shape every decision themselves. In some instances, such as in France, the citizens 150 conference was promised institutional follow-up (Osaka). This approach could help modify political decision making with significant climate change mitigation benefits.
A relevant concept in this regard is the Overton window. It describes how an idea that might seem too radical at one point in time might, over a longer period, become acceptable (Giridharadas). The recent French elections exemplify the concept. France’s national election consists of multiple rounds, but the title candidates were familiar to many: Macron & Le Pen. Le Pen often critiqued for ties with the far-right, seemed to have profited from a mildly popular first-round candidate; Éric Zemmour, his harsher takes moved the Overton window in a way where Le Pen seemed more neutral than before.
The outcomes from the citizens 150 conference were comprehensive. They have included a proposed ban on new airports, paying for green programs through corporate dividend taxes, and even a revision to the constitution to make damaging the environment a crime (Osaka). These far-reaching outcomes could help shift public perception to embrace more climate-progressive action. After all, the 150 citizens did prove they could act cooperatively and agree on a package which, compared to some plans politicians proposed over the past four decades, may be considered radical. This can energize more of the population to take a bigger bolder action to mitigate climate change.
The convention’s eventual package included 149 proposals, giving it real weight. The road to implementation is not easy, and it would be naive to think that France can now put all climate issues behind them. President Macron, who gave the initial push for the idea seemed to have some second thoughts along the way, at one point saying that participants were asking for too much and that “you can’t say that just because 150 citizens wrote something, it’s the Bible or the Quran.” (Osaka) Numerous proposals were eventually passed, and although phrasing and wording of important points were changed, Burquier, a spokesperson of the convention, was pleased that effort led to their bill passing in the National Assembly (Osaka).
To help contribute to reversing the damaging effects of climate change, numerous policy recommendations are necessary. Several are highlighted in other policy statements in this package. They must recognize the importance of publicly-led efforts for climate change mitigation and smoother implementation. Legislative efforts and public policy might not always seem to go hand in hand with public efforts, but there can be a meeting point, and that point doesn’t always have to be in the exact center between the two. Here are four proposals.
- Give citizens institutionalized platforms to bridge the gap between government and individual
- Guarantee institutional follow-up for their legislative recommendations.
- Perceive and present community-based initiatives as catalysts for greater institutional change.
- Find new ways to enforce political accountability to ensure that politicians accelerate climate change mitigation in word and deed.
Works Cited
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