Putting people at the heart of climate action

Read about the second Fair Green Future webinar

Fair Green Future illustration

In March the second Fair Green Future webinar continued the conversation about making sure climate solutions are fair and effective by exploring how communities can be heard by decision-makers. As we heard last time, when climate solutions feel fair and take into account our experiences and concerns, they will enjoy more trust and support and be more likely to succeed.

With local elections approaching in England and Senedd elections in Wales, this is a crucial moment for public participation. Election periods give communities greater influence and provide opportunities to raise local climate priorities directly with those seeking power.

With speakers from Hope for the Future and Climate Emergency UK, this second webinar explored how communities can meaningfully shape climate decisions, from engaging with candidates and councils to using tools that support accountability and participation.

Why get involved in elections?

Alfie Prothero, Political Lead at Hope for the Future started off talking about the upcoming elections. He highlighted that elections, and the time after, can be a good time to engage with local politicians, as candidates will be more receptive, looking to engage with constituents and listening to their concerns.

Having conversations with candidates about climate change, what the council is doing, and what is important to your community in the green transition before they are elected, can lay the groundwork for accountability and ongoing relationships once they are in office.

Top tips

Alfie shared his top tips:

Meet candidates face‑to‑face where possible
Prepare a short, clear message for doorstep conversations
Invite candidates to local events or meetings
Use hustings to ask public questions and secure commitments
Follow up on promises made during the campaign

He also noted important differences between the English and Welsh election systems which could impact how to best engage candidates.

Upcoming elections further information

You can read more about the upcoming elections on MyWI:

Check the Senedd Election hub
And the Fair Green Future Local Election Resource page.

Hope for the Future has developed a Hustings toolkit, particularly focused on Senedd elections. You can also check out a range of their other resources on the Hope for the Future website.

Climate Policies Work Better When People are Involved

Public participation: The case of citizen assemblies

When communities speak collectively — not just as individuals — their priorities carry greater weight. Joe Gascoigne‑Thompson, Policy & Engagement Coordinator at Hope for the Future talked about the importance of public participation and conversations with communities to make sure that climate action is fair and protects those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. And we don't have to wait for politicians to have these conversations.

What are citizen assemblies?

Joe introduced the example of citizen’s assemblies as a way to strengthen democracy and counter division. Citizen’s climate assemblies can create space for communities to learn together about climate issues, discuss concerns and ideas respectfully, and develop shared solutions, rather than simply reacting to political decisions after they’re made.

Joe said that climate assemblies can take many different forms, but are built on one fundamental principle: that democracy doesn't have to exist just with decision makers, but within communities who can discuss problems unique to them, come up with their own solutions, and work together to put ideas to politicians.

We heard about different models, including:

Formal citizen assemblies, which are often run by councils
Standing assemblies, that continue over time
People’s assemblies, led by communities and charities
Grassroots deliberative events focused on local issues

Joe shared examples from South Yorkshire and Cumbria, showing how assemblies have influenced planning decisions, policy pledges, and long‑term engagement.

Official, fully funded assemblies may be complex and difficult to arrange, but Joe highlighted that communities do not necessarily need to wait for councils or governments to take the initiative. Many of the principles of a climate assembly can be used locally:

Bringing people together from across the community, with different perspectives and experiences
Inviting local experts to share knowledge
Listening to lived experience
Working together to identify shared priorities and compromises

Working together like this can strengthen community voices and create powerful messages for decision-makers.

Read more about Hope for the Future’s Citizen Assembly project.

Councils, accountability and Climate Scorecards

Richard Barker, Climate Scorecard Ambassador at Climate Emergency UK talked to WI members about the role local councils play in tackling climate change. While local authorities are in charge of a range of policy areas crucial for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change, they have no statutory duty to act on climate change. Campaigners such as Climate Emergency UK are calling for this and have developed their own tools for holding councils to account.

Holding councils to account

Climate Emergency UK’s Council Climate Action Scorecards assess every UK council on 97 actions across seven key areas, providing a clear picture of what councils are, and aren’t, doing. The publicly available assessment of council climate performance covers areas like public participation, transport, housing, planning and biodiversity, and are created by trained volunteers reviewing publicly available evidence.

Richard demonstrated how we can use this great tool, and showed how constituents can:

Check their own council’s score on a range of different areas
Compare it with similar councils
Identify areas of strong performance and gaps
Learn from best practice elsewhere

He also shared ideas for using this to promote our WI campaigns, such as:

Asking informed questions at council meetings
Engaging council officers who want to do more
Supporting positive change by praising good work or improvements over time
Pushing for improvement where scores are low or decreasing

All over, volunteers are using the scorecards to influence their councils and make their voices heard. Richard shared examples where constituents had been able to influence council plans and make a real difference.

Read about the Council Climate Action Scorecards.

Resources

The second Fair Green Future webinar clearly showed that climate action is strongest, and fairest, when communities are involved and informed.

We have a range of resources available for members who wish to campaign for a Fair Green Future during the local election.

WI members and supporters can also watch the webinar recording on MyWI.

In our next Fair Green Future webinar (17 April), we’ll explore how climate change is already affecting people’s lives, and what we mean when we say that women and marginalised communities are disproportionately impacted.