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New Citizens Council Climate: Democratic, Just, Powerless

2021-04-28T03:57:23.442Z


"Citizens' Council" always sounds good, but is usually nothing more than a grassroots exercise. In the worst case, politicians then turn the well-intentioned proposals into a PR gag.


Enlarge image

Climate demonstration in Hamburg in February 2020

Photo: Peter Hartenfelser / imago images

In Germany, a number of councils are currently being established to keep an eye on politicians when it comes to climate protection.

Last week the new climate expert council of the federal government presented its first report, today a climate citizens' council is being established, the patron is the former Federal President Horst Köhler.

The government definitely needs advice on climate protection, because in recent years the German Merkel governments have gone from being pioneers to being mediocre. Other countries are passing Germany. Last week's Biden summit showed that others are messing up, we're messing up.

Even the inconsiderate Peter Altmaier explained in his “mea culpa” last summer that too little has been done to protect the climate so far.

Nevertheless, little has happened since then, apart from a reform of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, which does not even manage to ensure sufficient expansion of wind and sun in Germany.

Small footnote: Germany would have to add eight gigawatts of wind per year to meet the 2030 climate targets.

It is currently 1.4 gigawatts.

A coal phase-out at the end of the 2030s, the billions in subsidies for fossil fuels and the dominance of diesel and gasoline engines in German city centers are also less than convincing.

More than an exciting citizen experiment for the researchers involved and a praiseworthy freestyle in grassroots democracy is unlikely to come out.

This is why the population is rightly displeased, because the majority of Germans are in favor of more energy transition and climate protection.

The Scientist for Future movement and the Citizens 'Initiative for Climate Protection have founded a Citizens' Climate Council, which will be presented today.

160 randomly selected people are to exchange ideas on how the German climate targets can be achieved by 2030.

For two months, the participants - drawn equally according to gender and level of education - are to hold meetings in order to then present their results to politicians.

All well and good, democratic and fair - but unfortunately powerless.

More than an exciting citizen experiment for the participating researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and a commendable freestyle in grassroots democracy are unlikely to result.

The model for the experiment is the French convention citoyenne pour le climat, a citizens' council in France.

However, it was personally brought into being by President Emmanuel Macron - not by the climate movement.

The trigger for this was a split, not a common ground: the president was politically troubled by the yellow vests movement.

The French Citizens' Council presented its recommendations last June: They were far more progressive than Macron's government policy.

However, also without obligation.

The French environmental magazine »Reporterre« has counted: The government only implements ten percent of the recommendations.

An example: the ban on domestic flights.

What sounds good, however, has negligible impact on the climate and only affects three airlines.

The originally ambitious demand of the Climate Council was watered down beyond recognition and in the end turned into climate PR for the president.

This is how it can happen - even if public participation is ordered from a very high authority.

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2021-04-28

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