Tell the Climate Assembly what your group thinks about their recommendations

Is your UK Parliament Week event interested in talking about climate change? If you have any questions, contact [email protected]. Read on to find out what Climate Assembly UK is, what they recommended and how you can take part.  

 

Net-zero emissions 

 

In June 2019, the UK Government and Parliament agreed that the UK should do more to tackle climate change. They passed a law committing the UK to reaching ‘net-zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This means that by 2050 the UK will have to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it produces to a much lower level than today.  

 

As the actions required to do this will change many aspects of our lives, six select committees of the House of Commons joined together to set up a citizens’ assembly on climate change (Climate Assembly UK) to look at how the net zero target should be reached.   

 

 

Climate Assembly UK  

 

Climate Assembly UK brought 108 people from across the UK, aged 16 and above. Together they were representative of the wider UK population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, where in the UK they live, whether they live in an urban or rural area, and how concerned they are about climate change. They met over six weekends – three face-to-face in Birmingham and then three online after the arrival of Covid-19.   

  

After their discussions , they agreed  recommendations on areas including: how we travel; what we eat; what we buy; how we heat our homes; and how we generate our electricity.  

 

In September 2020, Climate Assembly UK launched its report on how the UK should reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050. The six select committees and the Government are now considering taking its findings forward.  

  

   

How can you help?   

   

We’re asking you to think about and discuss with your group three of the recommendations covered in the report. Do you agree or disagree with them? If you agree, we want your ideas on how to encourage people to make changes that will help the UK reach its net zero target. And if you disagree, we want to know why.  

 

The recommendations are:  

  

1. The report says we should encourage people to reduce the amount of meat and dairy products that we eat, because these types of food create a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.  

 

1. The report says that we need to buy less stuff. Part of the answer to this could be repairing things (i.e. fixing things when they break), sharing things (i.e. renting or sharing items we don’t use very often) and reusing things (e.g. second-hand goods) more.  

 

1. The report says that there should be more engagement of people in their local areas to inform how those areas tackle climate change.  

  

If you’d like some more guidance or information about the themes for your discussion, all of the evidence provided to the participants at Climate Assembly UK is available on our website in the form of video presentations and slides.  

  

For question one, you may find the following helpful:  

• Presentation from Dr Rosie Green: How changing the types of food we eat can reduce emissions  
• Presentation from Professor Tim Lang: How changing the way we consume food can reduce emissions   

  

For question two, you may find the following helpful:  

• presentations Presentation from Professor John Barratt: Ways to reduce the amount we buy in the first place  

•  Presentation from Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis: Ways to reuse products helpful.    

  

Share your answers with us via our online survey. Please return your responses by Friday 20th November 2020.  

Information provided in the survey will be used to inform the select committees’ ongoing work on net zero.  

If you have any questions you can contact the Climate Assembly UK team.