Building a Social Mandate for Climate Action : Lessons from COVID-19

Howarth, C. and Bryant, P. and Corner, A. and Fankhauser, S. and Gouldson, A. and Whitmarsh, L. and Willis, R. (2020) Building a Social Mandate for Climate Action : Lessons from COVID-19. Environmental and Resource Economics, 76. pp. 1107-1115. ISSN 0924-6460

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

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.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Environmental and Resource Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300/2308
Subjects:
?? behaviour changeclimate changecovid-19deliberative governancesocial mandateair cleanerssustainable developmentbehaviour changesfuture climateglobal emissionslow carbonside effectsocial contractmanagement, monitoring, policy and lawaerospace engineering ??
ID Code:
145938
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
29 Jul 2020 16:00
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 20:52