By Tim Hughes
Former Director (2017 to 2021)
The contract to run the Climate Change Citizens’ Assembly for six Select Committees of the House of Commons has been awarded to Involve.
Involve, who ran the Citizens’ Assembly on Social Care with two Select Committees in April 2018, will be working in partnership with mySociety and the Sortition Foundation. Work on the scope, timeframe and programme for the Climate Change Citizens’ Assembly will now begin. Details of the assembly, including its sessions, programme, and the questions it will tackle, will be announced at a later date.
The six Commons Select Committees hosting the citizens’ assembly are Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; Environmental Audit; Housing, Communities and Local Government; Science and Technology; Transport; and Treasury.
The Climate Change Citizens’ Assembly will explore views on reaching net zero emissions by 2050, such as the fair sharing of potential costs and the acceptability of different policy options. The results will feed into future Select Committee work, as well as informing political debate and Government policy making.
What is a citizens' assembly?
A citizens’ assembly is a group of people who are brought together to discuss an issue or issues and reach a conclusion about what they think should happen. The people who take part are chosen to reflect the wider population – in terms of demographics (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, social class) and sometimes relevant attitudes (e.g. preferences for a small or large state).
Citizens’ assemblies give members of the public the time and opportunity to learn about and discuss a topic with a wide range of experts, before reaching conclusions. Assembly members are asked to consider trade-offs between different policy options and arrive at workable recommendations.
Citizens’ assemblies, and other similar methods, have been used in the UK and other countries – including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and the United States – to address a range of complex issues.
Further information
The Select Committees’ announcement of their plans for the Climate Change Citizens’ Assembly can be found here.
All further information will follow in due course.