Building a Social Mandate for Climate Action: Lessons from COVID-19
#MMPMID32836829
Howarth C
; Bryant P
; Corner A
; Fankhauser S
; Gouldson A
; Whitmarsh L
; Willis R
Environ Resour Econ (Dordr)
2020[]; 76
(4
): 1107-1115
PMID32836829
show ga
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.
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