Claire Mellier is a researcher and facilitator. She was part of the facilitation team at Climate Assembly UK and one of the accredited researchers who observed France’s Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat.
The 2021 Global Assembly was an attempt to create a citizen-led governance chamber that connected institutions, civil society, and grassroots communities. Making this format permanent would allow global citizens to be actively involved in long-term decisions on climate change.
To effectively mobilize their citizens on climate action, EU leaders will need to go beyond the existing soft consensus that climate change is happening and put in place strategic, country-specific action plans.
Climate assemblies can help unlock more effective action against climate change, but improvements are needed in how they are run.