Tackling climate change increasingly means action at the household level. Around a third of the emissions reductions needed over the next 15 years will come from changes in how we heat our homes, travel and consume energy. But how do policymakers decide which pathways to net zero will work for everyday people? And how do they ensure proposed changes are affordable, practical and publicly acceptable?
In this episode, Jen Roberts and Matt Hannon are joined by Dr Sandra Bögelein, Lead Analyst for People and Net Zero at the Climate Change Committee, to discuss how citizens are helping to shape UK climate policy. They explore the Climate Change Committee's Seventh Carbon Budget and how Citizens Panels were used alongside expert analysis and modelling to understand public perspectives on household climate action.
Together, they discuss what these deliberative processes revealed about public priorities, trade-offs and co-benefits, the opportunities and challenges of involving citizens in policymaking, and how similar approaches could support climate decision-making at local and regional levels.
Links:
- The CCC Seventh Carbon Budget Report: theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Seventh-Carbon-Budget.pdf
- The CCC Citizens’ Panel for an accessible and affordable household vision of Net Zero: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/citizens-panel-for-an-accessible-and-affordable-household-vision-of-net-zero-ipsos/
- The three Citizens’ Juries from 2013/14 that Jen mentioned: https://www.climatexchange.org.uk/projects/citizens-juries-on-wind-farm-development-in-scotland/
Want to listen to more like this on Local Zero? Check out the following episodes:
89: Citizens assemble: participatory approaches for climate action
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