Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Building a Social Mandate for Climate Action
T2 - Lessons from COVID-19
AU - Howarth, C.
AU - Bryant, P.
AU - Corner, A.
AU - Fankhauser, S.
AU - Gouldson, A.
AU - Whitmarsh, L.
AU - Willis, R.
PY - 2020/8/1
Y1 - 2020/8/1
N2 - The COVID-19 imposed lockdown has led to a number of temporary environmental side effects (reduced global emissions, cleaner air, less noise), that the climate community has aspired to achieve over a number of decades. However, these benefits have been achieved at a massive cost to welfare and the economy. This commentary draws lessons from the COVID-19 crisis for climate change. It discusses whether there are more sustainable ways of achieving these benefits, as part of a more desirable, low carbon resilient future, in a more planned, inclusive and less disruptive way. In order to achieve this, we argue for a clearer social contract between citizens and the state. We discuss how COVID-19 has demonstrated that behaviours can change abruptly, that these changes come at a cost, that we need a 'social mandate' to ensure these changes remain in the long-term, and that science plays an important role in informing this process. We suggest that deliberative engagement mechanisms, such as citizens' assemblies and juries, could be a powerful way to build a social mandate for climate action post-COVID-19. This would enable behaviour changes to become more accepted, embedded and bearable in the long-term and provide the basis for future climate action.
AB - The COVID-19 imposed lockdown has led to a number of temporary environmental side effects (reduced global emissions, cleaner air, less noise), that the climate community has aspired to achieve over a number of decades. However, these benefits have been achieved at a massive cost to welfare and the economy. This commentary draws lessons from the COVID-19 crisis for climate change. It discusses whether there are more sustainable ways of achieving these benefits, as part of a more desirable, low carbon resilient future, in a more planned, inclusive and less disruptive way. In order to achieve this, we argue for a clearer social contract between citizens and the state. We discuss how COVID-19 has demonstrated that behaviours can change abruptly, that these changes come at a cost, that we need a 'social mandate' to ensure these changes remain in the long-term, and that science plays an important role in informing this process. We suggest that deliberative engagement mechanisms, such as citizens' assemblies and juries, could be a powerful way to build a social mandate for climate action post-COVID-19. This would enable behaviour changes to become more accepted, embedded and bearable in the long-term and provide the basis for future climate action.
KW - Behaviour change
KW - Climate change
KW - COVID-19
KW - Deliberative governance
KW - Social mandate
KW - Air cleaners
KW - Sustainable development
KW - Behaviour changes
KW - Future climate
KW - Global emissions
KW - Low carbon
KW - Side effect
KW - Social contract
U2 - 10.1007/s10640-020-00446-9
DO - 10.1007/s10640-020-00446-9
M3 - Journal article
VL - 76
SP - 1107
EP - 1115
JO - Environmental and Resource Economics
JF - Environmental and Resource Economics
SN - 0924-6460
ER -