UK’s first citizens assembly to address climate change

Oxford City Council is to be the first UK local authority to establish a citizens assembly to help address the issue of climate change.

There have been several warnings recently that the current global target of 80 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050 is not enough to avert catastrophic temperature change.

At the start of the year, Oxford City Council unanimously declared a climate emergency and agreed to create a citizens assembly in the city to help consider new carbon targets and additional measures to reduce emissions. The assembly will involve a randomly-selected representative sample of Oxford residents and will meet in September, becoming the first citizens assembly in the UK created to consider climate change.

Oxford City Council is a member of Low Carbon Oxford, a network of 40 public/private organisations that aims to reduce citywide emissions by 40 per cent of 2005 levels by 2020. The council has announced initiatives totalling over £80 million to support the council on its goal to support reducing carbon emissions. This includes installing one of the world’s largest batteries to support electric vehicle charging and low-carbon heat networking, and creating a new ‘smart grid’ to allow individuals and communities to become active participants in the energy systems of the future.

Gordon Mitchell, chief executive at the council, said: “The urgency in the need to act on Oxford’s carbon emissions was underlined by the City Council’s unanimous vote this year which declared a climate emergency and called for the setting up of a citizens’ assembly to help us consider additional measures and make recommendations for our city. Taking this forward is one of the Council’s key priorities for 2019.”