Six House of Commons select committees have banded together to convene a citizens’ assembly to thrash out a pathway for achieving a zero carbon Britain by 2050.
The citizens’ assembly, which brings together a group of people who reflect the broader population to deliberate on a particularly thorny topic, will explore views on how policies to cut emissions can be shared fairly.
Citizens assemblies, which ask the handpicked individuals to make the trade-offs required to arrive at workable recommendations, have been used to tackle complex issues in other countries and the UK.
The most notable recent example is in the Republic of Ireland where an assembly shaped a proposal to lift the abortion ban, which was subsequently endorsed in a nation-wide referendum.
Select committees have previously used citizens’ assemblies to help tackle other difficult issues, including the future of adult social care.
The net zero citizens’ assembly, which is due to take place in the autumn, follows prime minister Theresa May’s commitment last week to an ambitious new target for the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), environmental audit; housing, communities and local government; science and technology; transport; and Treasury, have all signed up to jointly mount the assembly.
The exercise is intended to provide input to future select committee activity as well as inform political debate and government policy making on the net zero goal.
The establishment of a citizens’ assembly to map out a pathway to net zero is one of the three key demands of the Extinction Rebellion campaigner, whose co-founder Gail Bradbrook advocated the move when she gave evidence to the BEIS committee earlier this week.
Announcing the establishment of the assembly, BEIS select committee chair Rachel Reeves said: “The job now is to get on with mapping out the path to achieve it. This isn’t a challenge for just one parliament, one political party, or one generation.
“To achieve net-zero by 2050 we need to build cross-party and cross-generational support for the short-medium-and-long term policies and actions needed to deliver it.
“The UK won’t play its part in helping to save our planet or enable us to reap the benefits unless there is a co-ordinated, cross-departmental effort from the government, together with buy-in from the public for the measures needed to achieve this ambitious goal.”
Welcoming the committees’ initiative, Greg Clark, secretary of state for business and energy said: “Ending our contribution to climate change can be the defining decision of our generation in fulfilling our responsibility to the next, but it will require the effort of a generation to deliver it. Governments and political parties of all colours will need to work with the public, both young and old, and all sectors of business and society to deliver on the prime minister’s commitment to the UK cutting carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.”
But Linda Doyle, from Extinction Rebellion, said that while a welcome step, the proposed assembly lacked teeth.
She said: “It is encouraging to see that our third demand is now being taken seriously by parliament. It is important that we recognise the voice of ordinary people and work towards a just transition for all – nationally and internationally. Unfortunately, there are many problems with this proposal. The suggested assembly does not have any legislative power and we are concerned its advice and conclusions will not be fully implemented.
“We are also extremely concerned by the framing of these assemblies. It is a tragedy that these assemblies are being asked to look at how to decarbonise by 2050, as opposed to determining the target date themselves, based on the latest science and expert opinion. Our demands call for a citizens’ assembly organised independent of government and we want to see an oversight body established to ensure that the government does not have any undue influence over the agenda, evidence, or the eventual conclusions.
“It would be a shame if the voices of ordinary people were only ever used cynically to legitimise the government’s unambitious targets. Now is the time to think big.”
Liberal Democrat climate change spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said that while the announcement is welcome it is “disappointing, though unsurprising, that backbench MPs have had to take the initiative”.