The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has today approved the Ministerial Order that will allow the preparation and organisation of the Citizens’ Assembly for Climate.

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has today approved the Ministerial Order that will allow the preparation and organisation of the Citizens’ Assembly for Climate. This order complies with article 39.1 of the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition (Law 7/2021, of 20 May) and one of the priority lines of action of the Declaration on the Climate and Environmental Emergency in Spain.

The approved text is the result of the analysis of experiences and lessons learned from other country assemblies in accordance with the national context and of a process of hearing and public information, which has made it possible to integrate improvements in recent months. The Assembly already has the legal framework for its implementation and the holding of its sessions from November, once the practical issues for its realization are finalized.

The information related to the Assembly will be accessible to the public through its own website, where all the information pertinent to its sessions, progress and results will be updated.

The Citizens’ Assembly for Climate is established as a forum for citizen participation, whose first mandate will be to debate the question: “a safer and fairer Spain in the face of climate change”. To this end, 100 people representing the diversity of Spanish society, 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 – will meet mostly virtually for five sessions, which will take place over weekends. As a result, they will have to prepare 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.

The question to be debated will be narrowed down to more specific topics that will be proposed by the group of independent experts, the main governance body of the Assembly, with the help of a citizen consultation, to identify those issues related to climate neutrality and improved resilience that are most relevant to citizens. The aim is to strengthen the channels of dialogue and citizen participation in the decision-making process on climate change and to establish a social debate on the search for solutions to the climate crisis by giving citizens a voice. The members will put forward concrete proposals and ideas that can be implemented in the Spanish territory to support the achievement of climate change objectives.

MITECO, through the Spanish Office for Climate Change (OECC), will provide technical and administrative support to an independent governance structure composed of; a coordinating panel, which facilitates the technical work of implementation and logistical support of the Assembly. This will be private and multidisciplinary, made up of members of the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) and the Spanish Network for Sustainable Development (REDS); An independent group of experts of an advisory nature and key in the design and approach of the sessions of the Assembly, made up of people with recognized prestige in the field of climate and energy, biodiversity, the environment and in the field of social transformation, among others. Its mandate and its members, proposed on the basis of the recommendations of the National Climate Commission, the Environmental Advisory Council and the Ecological Transition Commissions of the Group’s Congress and Senate, will be published on the Assembly’s website; and an independent private technical team for the selection of participants and another, equally independent, specialized in deliberative processes, to support the design and facilitation of the sessions of the Assembly.

Social innovator in supporting climate action

The Assembly is configured as a forum for citizen participation, a deliberative exercise, unprecedented in Spain, to generate reflection and collective knowledge, and to learn about the assessments and proposals of citizens on what solutions should be applied with the aim of promoting Spain to be a more resilient country to the impacts of climate change and climate neutral by mid-century.

The Third Vice-President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, pointed out that “the Citizens’ Assembly will be a huge milestone to move forward together towards a more prepared, fair and secure Spain in the face of the climate emergency” In addition, she added that “It is necessary to make citizens participants in the great transformations that the climate emergency entails, understand their opportunities, as well as the fundamental role they have as agents of change in their daily decisions and actions” and that in a context of equity and social justice  Governments should take note of their concrete proposals “on how to activate all the levers necessary to achieve climate neutrality and improve our capacity to adapt”.