Ireland’s democratic experiment lays the ground for stronger climate action

(Climate Change News, 18 Feb 2019) Ireland’s struggle with climate change cuts to the heart of people’s daily lives and reflects the country’s revival after recession: more cars on the road and thriving cattle farms.

That makes it a political hot potato that Irish governments have tended to kick down the road – until it came to an assembly of 99 randomly selected citizens, tasked with weighing in on some of the country’s most contentious social issues.

The Citizens’ Assembly spearheaded Ireland’s vote to overturn an abortion ban in 2018, after a similar public consultation led to the vote to allow same-sex marriage in 2015. Now, the assembly could force Dublin’s hand on divisive and expensive new measures to tackle climate change, including raising the carbon tax on road fuels and extending it to agricultural emissions.

How closely the government sticks to the citizens’ 13 recommendations on climate change remains to be seen in the next few months. But Ireland’s bottom-up approach to policymaking is at the vanguard of a trend towards more participatory, consultative democracies aimed at building consensus – and political cover – on thorny issues such as Brexit and French tax reforms.

The key: strip out the party politics and arm the public with information.

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Climate Change News, 18 Feb 2019: Ireland’s democratic experiment lays the ground for stronger climate action