First-ever Global Citizens Consultation Held

The main objective of WWViews was to give a broad sample of citizens from across the Earth the opportunity to influence global climate policy. An overarching purpose was to set a groundbreaking precedent by demonstrating that political decision-making processes on a global scale benefit when everyday people participate.

Americans joined citizens from 37 other countries in recommending that stringent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions be instituted at the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference. Eighty-seven percent of U.S. participants in a historic global citizens’ consultation say it is urgent for industrialized countries to reduce CO2 emissions far beyond Obama targets.

Dr. David Guston and Dr. Richard Sclove are two of my co-conspirators in mapping out the formation of a National Participatory Technology Assessment Agency. They also recently participated in this first-ever global citizens’ deliberation. Dr. Sclove is the U.S. advisor to the World Wide Views project. Following are highlights from this effort, pulled from a recently released press announcement.

Note this quote from the release: “Citizen participation and input is important to any public policy change,” said U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) at the Phoenix metropolitan area [Global Climate Change] event at Arizona State University, where he presented welcoming remarks. “If you truly expect it to work, you’ve got to have citizen participation.”

Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Phoenix (October 6, 2009) – Organizers of World Wide Views on Global Warming today announced results of the first global citizens’ consultation in history. Last week a broadly diverse group of residents in five greater metropolitan areas in the United States joined citizens in 37 other countries on six continents for a full day of deliberation on climate change policy. World Wide Views is the first opportunity everyday citizens from around the world have had to present their recommendations to climate change policymakers and to affect the outcomes at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen. Participants deliberated and voted on 12 questions within four thematic areas: climate change and its consequences; long-term goals and urgency; handling CO2 emissions; and the economy of technology transfer and adaptation (results can be viewed online at www.WWViews.org). They then proposed and prioritized action recommendations for COP15 delegates. The 4,000 people who took part internationally in World Wide Views sent a clear message: It is time to act.

In sharp contrast with recent public opinion polls in the United States indicating somewhat diminished popular concern with climate change, 74 percent of the 338 participants in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and Phoenix are “very concerned” about global warming. Eighty-seven percent want the United States and other developed nations to reduce their year 2020 greenhouse gas emissions 25-40 percent or more below the 1990 levels toward which the Obama Administration is aiming. A striking 9 in 10 Americans who took part in World Wide Views – matched by 9 in 10 citizens from 37 other represented nations – say it is urgent that nations reach a new climate deal later this year at COP15 in Copenhagen.

Additionally, 71 percent of the U.S. participants in World Wide Views want nations that fail to meet their obligations under a new climate deal to be penalized severely or significantly. Sixty-nine percent believe the price of fossil fuels should be increased.

“World Wide Views has given us politicians a unique insight into the views of ordinary citizens from all corners of the world on the climate crisis,” said Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s minister of climate and energy and the host of the upcoming COP15 in Copenhagen. “It is a powerful signal to the politicians when citizens all over the world agree that action is urgent. It underlines the importance of reaching an ambitious agreement in Copenhagen this December.”