The Citizens’ Assembly for Climate, made up of 100 people who represent the diversity of Spanish society, began today, virtually, with the celebration of the first of its five sessions, which will run over this weekend.
This citizen participation forum, a pioneer in Spain, was born as a response to the necessary search for solutions to achieve decarbonised and more resilient societies that contribute to combating the climate emergency. The call of the scientific community to promote an unprecedented economic and social transformation requires an informed society that promotes changes in production and consumption models through its daily behaviors and habits.
The Citizens’ Assembly for Climate is one of the priority lines of action of the Declaration on Climate and Environmental Emergency in Spain, enshrined in the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, and opens a new path to strengthen public participation: it will allow knowledge to be shared and proposals to be identified and debated to advance in the urgent response to climate change in our country.
Following the publication of the Ministerial Order establishing the composition, organisation and operation of the Citizens’ Assembly for Climate on 8 October, the work of the governance bodies to launch the Assembly and the training of citizens in the use of the platform and virtual tools on 20 November, the Assembly begins today with the substantive part of its work.
In accordance with the first mandate of the Assembly, the participants will deliberate during the different sessions on the question “A safer and fairer Spain in the face of climate change, how do we do it?”, with the aim of drawing up recommendations that will be made public and sent to the Government and the Congress of Deputies to facilitate decision-making on climate change policy. To this end, the sessions of the assembly are organized in three phases: i) learning and knowledge, ii) reflection and deliberation and iii) preparation of recommendations.
FIRST SESSION: LEARNING AND KNOWLEDGE
The first phase of the Assembly will focus on learning and knowledge, in order to provide participants with common information and content on climate change, its causes and effects, climate scenarios and the introduction to adaptation and mitigation or issues associated with the regulatory context, among other issues.
Its objective is to provide balanced and technical information and critical analysis tools that allow the development and sharing of visions and generate discussion on the urgency of addressing this global problem, with a view to deliberation in the following phases.
The next sessions will address specific topics, proposed by the group of independent experts, the main governance body of the Assembly, with the help of a citizen consultation that has been open on its website until December 10, to identify those issues related to climate neutrality and the improvement of resilience that are most relevant for citizens.
AN “EXCITING” CHALLENGE THAT PLACES CITIZENS AT THE CENTRE
In the institutional welcome, the importance of the exercise that lies ahead of the 100 citizens was highlighted, and the commitment in the process on the part of the recipients of the recommendations.
“The launch of the Citizens’ Assembly for Climate is a very exciting challenge because it has meant opening a new space for participation in the climate debate for its true protagonists: citizens, workers, farmers, traders, consumers… our young and old,” said the Vice-President and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera. “I am convinced that very pertinent ideas will emerge, as has happened with the experiences that other countries around us have carried out. You can count on our total commitment to integrate as much as possible everything feasible that facilitates in a fast and agile way to meet an objective shared by our society,” he added.
In this sense, “it is essential to find alternative spaces that complement the more formal spaces for participation, to generate different debates, different tools for public debate, in such a cross-cutting challenge that affects us all so directly. Hence the importance of this Assembly,” said Ribera. “We have a challenge ahead of us that entails an important transformation and social innovation”.
In the same vein, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa, and the president of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet, have also conveyed their message of support for this initiative.
100 CITIZENS WHO REPRESENT THE DIVERSITY OF SPANISH SOCIETY
The people who participate have been selected independently and randomly on the basis of objective stratification criteria – such as age, gender, educational level, geographical origin and residence in urban or rural areas, among others – as a representative sample of a “mini Spain”. Information on the selection methodology is available on the Assembly’s own website .
The participants will be anonymous to guarantee their protection and privacy throughout the process, so that they can exercise their role from freedom and independence. In addition, they will have both technical support, for all aspects related to accessibility and digital support, and substantive, with teams led by a group of experts and a team of facilitators.
They will have the opportunity to listen to and work with experts, people who promote climate solutions and witnesses of the climate emergency from different fields, all seeking continuous learning of lessons learned and challenges to build on, which will allow the identification of concrete proposals that can be implemented in Spanish territory to support the achievement of climate change objectives.
The final result of its debates will constitute a report of recommendations that will be public and will be sent to the Government and the Plenary of the Congress of Deputies in order to facilitate debate and decision-making on climate policy. All this in a favourable regulatory context: Spain now has a strategic energy and climate framework that will allow our country to be more resilient to the impacts of climate change and climate neutral by mid-century.
Information regarding the Assembly will be accessible to the public through its website and on its own networks, where all the relevant information will be updated on its upcoming sessions, progress and results.
