The Citizens' Convention on Climate convened 150 randomly selected participants for seven weekends between October 2019 and June 2020. They defined measures to achieve a reduction of at least 40% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and submitted them to the French Government.
Problems and Purpose
In the fight against climate change, policymakers face complex issues, tradeoffs, and demands for greater public involvement. Initiated by the President of the Republic, the Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat (Citizens’ Convention on Climate) sought to provide a venue for a randomly selected group of citizens to reflect and discuss these issues and tradeoffs. [1] Its purpose was to define a series of measures aimed at reducing France's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030. The Convention dealt with issues related notably to energy efficiency, housing, agriculture, mobility, and ecological taxation while keeping in mind a spirit of social justice.
Background History and Context
The social context in France was characterized by tensions and mobilizations surrounding the Government approach to the climate crisis, as illustrated by the “gilets jaunes” (Yellow Vest) movement.[2] Following the Grand Débat National, the President of the Republic announced the creation of the Convention on April 25th, 2019. This announcement responded to the public's demands for greater involvement in the decision-making process and a faster and more robust approach to fighting climate change. The Convention's organization was entrusted to the Conseil économique, social et environnemental (Economic, Social and Environmental Council - ESEC). [3] The President stated his intention to submit the proposals "without a filter,” either to a vote in Parliament, referendum, or direct regulatory application. [4]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The ESEC was mandated to organize the Citizens’ Convention on Climate, which had a budget of €5.4 million. [5] It installed an independent Governance Committee composed of experts in the fields of ecology, participatory democracy, and economics and social affairs to support the work of the Convention. During the Convention, members, selected at random, also assisted the committee. [6] Three guarantors were appointed to ensure the independence and the quality of the process. [7] The deliberative process was structured and animated by three organizations: Missions Publiques, Res Publica, and Eurogroup Consulting. [8]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Harris Interactive was in charge of recruiting 150 participants reflective of the diversity of the French population. Telephone numbers were generated automatically (85% mobile and 15% landlines), and about 255,000 people were contacted between the end of August and the end of September 2019. The participants were randomly selected according to the following criteria: gender, age, level of education, socio-professional categories, residency, geographical area. [9] Participants were compensated in the same manner as citizens serving on a criminal court jury, which is €86.04 per day (€1,462 for the entire process). They were also eligible for compensation for loss of professional income if the Convention took place during their working hours (€10.03 per hour). The Convention covered expenses related to childcare, accommodation, and transportation. [10]
Methods and Tools Used
The Convention was based on the citizens’ assembly method. Members received information on climate change and heard from a series of experts during the entire process. Citizens and interested organizations were also invited to submit contributions via the Convention website. [11] The Convention also mandated in-house experts to assist the members with their propositions and ensure that they were legally robust. [12] The deliberation was also supported by facilitation methods designed to ensure that all members could participate actively in the discussions. [13] Animators assisted the exchanges that took place in groups, but also online and on the Convention platform “Jenparle.” [14] Debates in both plenary sessions and the five working groups were preceded by exchanges in smaller groups to ensure that everybody could contribute to the debate. [15] Most of the work was broadcast live or as podcasts accessible on the website, and the sessions at the ESEC hemicycle were open to the public (before the COVID-19 restrictions). [16]
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The Convention lasted nine months, and members met for seven sessions. Initially planned for six weekends, the members requested an additional session. [17] For most of the sessions, members were randomly assigned to one of the five working groups: Consommer (consumption), Se déplacer (transport), Se loger (housing), Se nourrir (food), Produire (production) and Travailler (work). Members deliberated in small groups to have sufficient time to discuss the issues and ensure that all participants have opportunities to participate in the process. [18] Between the sessions, they were also encouraged to organize public conversations in their communities and meet with local stakeholders and politicians, to inform themselves and spread the word about the Convention and its work. [19]
Regarding the structure of the process, the Convention took place in three phases. The first three sessions correspond to the learning phase, the deliberative component took place during sessions 4, 5, and 6, and the decision-making phase took place in the last session.
Session 1: October 4-6, 2019
For this first session, the participants were introduced to the mission, process, and structure of the Convention. They heard from experts and discussed in small groups about climate change, the French government's actions, and the policy challenges posed by this crisis. Lastly, the members were randomly divided into five working groups with distinct themes and began preparing the work. [20]
Session 2: October 25-27, 2019
Assembly members heard from experts on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the tools that could be used to reach these objectives. In their respective group, members explored the theme assigned to them before sharing their discussions with the whole assembly. [21]
Session 3: November 15-17, 2019
In this third session, members began developing their propositions. In their working group, they engaged with experts to further explore their ideas and heard a synthesis of the contributions submitted by citizens and members of interested organizations. Members also met with stakeholders identified in the previous session to explore their propositions further. The groups exchanged with one another about their progress, consolidate their first propositions, and identified areas where supplementary information was needed. [22]
Session 4: January 10-12, 2020
The working groups exchanged with the Convention's experts who have analyzed the propositions based on their legal, economic, and social impacts, their contribution to the greenhouse gas reduction target, and social justice questions. In addition, members analyzed technical notes on the legal and reglementary apparatus provided by the Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire. [23] The working groups exchanged with one another about their various propositions, and the Convention members to debate, as a whole, about the process to elaborate their final report. The President of the Republic met and exchanged with the members of the Convention. [24]
Session 5: February 7-9, 2020
During this session, members finalized their propositions in their respective working groups. They also discussed potential constitutional modifications to address the climate crisis more effectively. Lastly, they deliberated on their collective conclusions and messages for the Government, stakeholders, and the public. [25]
Session 6: March 6-8, 2020
The five working groups presented their recommendations and objectives to the whole assembly. A debate followed each presentation. After presenting the report's structure, the Convention randomly selected the members of the redaction committee. Lastly, the address to the French public was read and validated by the members. [26]
Session 7: June 19-21, 2020
The proposals were submitted to a vote during this final session, and the final report was approved. Members also voted on the objectives that should be submitted to a referendum. [27]
Extraordinary online session on COVID-19
In April 2020, members collectively decided to contribute to the debate on the COVID-19 recovery by organizing an extraordinary online session to discuss the impacts of the pandemic. The members published a statement to the public and submitted 50 of their proposals to the Government on potential opportunities to contribute to the economic recovery while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
The final report was submitted to the Government and shared with the public. A press conference was organized at the Élysée with the President of the Republic on June 29th, 2020.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Based on the final report, the experience of the Convention was seen positively by the members themselves, and they strongly encouraged holding similar experiments on other fundamental topics to ensure that citizens are heard and involved [28]. However, its influence largely depends on the Executive respecting its commitment to move forward with the proposals. [29] To follow the implementation of their recommendations and continue diffusing their work and experience with the broader public, the members have created an association (Les 150).
Analysis and Lessons Learned
Citizen juries that use random select to recruit participants descend from the traditional critics of representative democracy in that they try to emulate the Greek democracy in which all citizens could be drawn by lot to regulate the life of the city. This deliberative vision of democracy assumes that the representativeness of the participants will increase the democratic character of the decision. However, some think that democratic representativeness should go further and give more voice to people who are discriminated against (racialized, handicapped, poor, LGBT) or even non-humans (rivers, geographical features, animals) to give them greater importance. In this case, even if the panel was weighted by certain criteria (gender, CSP, democratic origin), the representativeness was partial: participants must have a phone number as a minimal requirement. Even if the panel was weighted by certain criteria (gender, CSP, democratic origin), the representativeness was partial: participants must have a phone number as a minimal requirement.
See Also
References
[1] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2019, Letter from the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/lettre-de-mission.pdf.
[2] Claire Mellier & Rich Wilson, 2020, Getting Climate Citizens’ Assemblies Right, Carnegie Europe,https://carnegieeurope.eu/2020/11/05/getting-climate-citizens-assemblies-right-pub-83133.
[3] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2019, Letter from the Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/lettre-de-mission.pdf.
[4] Élysée, Réponse du Président de la République aux membres de la Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, June 2020, https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/06/29/le-president-emmanuel-macron-repond-aux-150-citoyens-de-la-convention-citoyenne-pour-le-climat.
[5] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Le budget, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/budget/.
[6] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, The Governance Committee, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/comite-gourvernance/.
[7] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, The Guarantors, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/les-garants/.
[8] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2020, Les propositions de la Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, p. 451.
[9] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2020, How are the participants selected?, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/how-are-the-participants-selected/.
[10] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, FAQ, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/foire-aux-questions/.
[11] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Vos contributions, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/les-travaux-de-la-convention-2/.
[12] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2020, Les propositions de la Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, p. 451.
[13] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Presentation file, p. 13.
[14] Missions Publiques, Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, https://missionspubliques.org/pf/convention-citoyenne-pour-le-climat/.
[15] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Les travaux de la Convention, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/les-travaux-de-la-convention-3/.
[16] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Les travaux de la Convention, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/les-travaux-de-la-convention-3/.
[17] Claire Mellier-Wilson, 2020, Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat : What can we learn from the French Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change?, Involve, https://www.involve.org.uk/resources/blog/opinion/convention-citoyenne-pour-le-climat-what-can-we-learn-french-citizens.
[18] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2020, Les propositions de la Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, p. 8.
[19] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, The Citizens’ Convention on Climate, what is it?, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/en/.
[20] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme – session 1, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Programme-des-4-5-et-6-octobre.pdf.
[21] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme – session 2, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Programme-session-2-Convention-Citoyenne-climat.pdf.
[22] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme - session 3, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Programme-session3.pdf.
[23] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme – session 4, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/012020-CCC-programme-session4-1.pdf.
[24] Élysée, 2020, Échanges avec les 150 membres de la Convention citoyenne pour le Climat, https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/01/10/echanges-avec-les-150-membres-de-la-convention-citoyenne-pour-le-climat.
[25] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme – session 5, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/022020-CCC-programme-session5.pdf.
[26] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme - session 6, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/032020-CCC-programme-session6.pdf.
[27] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, Programme - session 7, https://www.conventioncitoyennepourleclimat.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Programme-session-7.pdf.
[28] Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, 2020, Les propositions de la Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat, p. 437.
[29] Claire Mellier & Rich Wilson, 2020, Getting Climate Citizens’ Assemblies Right, Carnegie Europe, https://carnegieeurope.eu/2020/11/05/getting-climate-citizens-assemblies-right-pub-83133.