The nationwide climate citizens’ council has started. He should succeed in what politics has not been able to do so far: create a broad consensus on climate policy – and take the Paris climate target seriously.
From Marcel Heberlein, ARD capital studio You don’t need superheroes or super nerds for good climate policy. That could be the motto of the new Citizens’ Council for the Climate. “Among other things, we have a tram driver from Berlin with us, a pensioner from Hesse, schoolchildren and students,” says Rabea Koss, spokeswoman for the citizens’ council. 160 people, young and old, with and without a migration history, with a lot of knowledge about climate change and with little – a “mini-Germany” is to be discussed in the Citizens’ Council. The participants were drawn at random, but care was taken to ensure that a cross-section of society that was as representative as possible came together.
The “what” is fixed, the “how” is up for discussion
Experts from science should provide a factual basis. The Paris climate target – significantly less than two degrees global warming – has been set. Germany has committed itself to this. Then the citizens should evaluate for themselves which climate policy should follow from this in their opinion. “It is important that we do not give them these ratings. On the contrary,” says sustainability researcher Ortwin Renn from the University of Stuttgart. “We are interested in how people who will be affected by climate change want to set their own priorities.” There will be twelve online sessions, lectures by experts, and the first results in the summer. The crucial question, of course: Does politics have to adhere to the recommendations? She doesn’t have to. But sustainability researcher Renn suggests that the future federal government must publicly justify every step it takes to deviate from the proposals of the citizens’ council.
Ireland is a pioneer
The example of Ireland shows that citizens ‘councils can achieve a surprisingly large amount: A citizens’ council there resulted in gay marriage being legalized. The German Citizens ‘Council on climate policy already has a big name advocate on its side: Horst Köhler, the former Federal President, is the patron of the Citizens’ Council – and a fan Charcoal burner. But he can accompany and supplement. “He can sound out willingness to change and thus perhaps enable decisions that would otherwise not have come about”.
Overcoming the distance between politicians and citizens
Köhler currently recognizes a gap between the level of government and “what is happening below in the people”. He sees citizens’ councils as an attempt to bridge this gap – and as a “double sign of confidence”: confidence in the willingness of citizens to support or even drive change and “to transform social conflicts into workable compromises”. So the expectations of the randomly selected citizens are pretty high. Or to put it positively: A lot of hope. Sustainability researcher Renn also has that. He sees an opportunity in the citizens ‘council to move from the regulars’ table to the round table. It’s easy to make politics at the regulars’ table. “We can forget the complexity of the matter very quickly, because then it’s all about creating moods.” It is different in the citizens’ council. Citizens are practically called upon to come to “very useful insights” and “sometimes painful insights” as part of a dialogue. At the end of June, the Climate Citizens Council is due to present its recommendations.
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