Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19
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 e...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2020
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| _version_ | 1826261843100827648 |
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| author | Howarth, C Bryant, P Corner, A Fankhauser, S Gouldson, A Whitmarsh, L Willis, R |
| author_facet | Howarth, C Bryant, P Corner, A Fankhauser, S Gouldson, A Whitmarsh, L Willis, R |
| author_sort | Howarth, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:26:57Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:1c17bb80-9c46-4c4f-a98e-00a376dff291 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T19:26:57Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:1c17bb80-9c46-4c4f-a98e-00a376dff2912022-03-26T11:03:55ZBuilding a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1c17bb80-9c46-4c4f-a98e-00a376dff291EnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer2020Howarth, CBryant, PCorner, AFankhauser, SGouldson, AWhitmarsh, LWillis, RThe 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. |
| spellingShingle | Howarth, C Bryant, P Corner, A Fankhauser, S Gouldson, A Whitmarsh, L Willis, R Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title | Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title_full | Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title_short | Building a social mandate for climate action: lessons from COVID-19 |
| title_sort | building a social mandate for climate action lessons from covid 19 |
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