GSI Seminar - Are local climate emergency declarations leading to transformation in the politics of climate change?

As the latest COP comes to a close, it is a timely moment to consider the challenges as well as opportunities involved in responding to the climate and environment emergency from the standpoint of democratic politics and public participation. Across the globe, national, regional and local government organisations have declared a climate emergency over the past few years. But what has this achieved? This seminar will reflect on climate politics at the local level with a case study focus on the Devon Climate Assembly that took place in June-July 2021. The Assembly was conceived as a response to 2019 climate emergency declarations and forms a central pillar in a multi-stakeholder process to develop a Devon Carbon Plan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the assembly was conducted online and was co-designed in collaboration with an interdisciplinary project team of University of Exeter researchers from Politics and Geography. The assembly involved a representative sample of 70 citizens drawn from multiple geographies and social groups who deliberated on three ‘sensitive’ climate mitigation topics: increasing onshore wind energy, reducing private car use, and retrofitting buildings. In this seminar, we will draw on mixed method data consisting of surveys completed by assembly members and in-depth semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders. We will share project findings and discuss the ways in which online delivery shaped the experience of public deliberation for participating citizens. Finally, we will debate the wider implications of using citizens assemblies and juries on climate change, specifically the potential for a transformation in climate politics. 

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