Westminster City Council declared a climate emergency in 2019, setting out their ambitions to be a net zero carbon council by 2030 and a net zero city by 2040.
Achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2040 requires ambitious action across all parts of Westminster, but businesses, cultural organisations, the public sector, communities and individuals.
In recent years, there's been a growing global emphasis on making democratic decisions in a thoughtful and inclusive way. This means encouraging discussions where everyone's voice is heard, so we can make better decisions together. Citizens' Assemblies are a key part of modern democracy because they make sure everyone gets a say, especially those who might usually be left out or not shout the loudest. Click here for more information about Citizens’ Assemblies.
Westminster Citizens’ Climate Assembly was commissioned by Westminster City Council to ensure the needs and views of residents are fully reflected in ongoing work to understand how to promote city-wide action on climate change.
The Citizens’ Assembly developed:
- A vision for a Net Zero Westminster
- Principles for delivery Net Zero in the fairest way
- Eight majority recommendations
- Five minority recommendations
The vision, principles and recommendations were delivered to the Full Council in September 2023. Click here to see the recommendations in full.
Background
The Westminster Citizens’ Climate Assembly brought together a randomised group of 47 diverse residents from Westminster across June and July 2023, to develop a set of recommendations in response to the following question:
"How can we overcome the main barriers to Westminster becoming a net zero city by 2040 together? How do we ensure this is delivered in the fairest way?"
Assembly members were invited to consider the Assembly’s question through the following lenses:
- My Westminster — as a city and a place
- My Community — local groups, areas, and neighbourhoods
- My Home — households and individual behaviours
Members attended four full-day sessions between June and July 2023. During these sessions Members learned about climate issues, discussed them together and created a vision, set of principles and recommendations for action.
The vision, principles and recommendations were shared with the full council in September 2023 and are being used to inform the next iteration of Westminster City Council’s Climate Emergency Plan.
The assembly was overseen by an independent Advisory Group. Their role was to provide advice and oversight, ensuring the Assembly’s design, evidence and materials were accurate, balanced and unbiased. Members of the Advisory Group were invited because of their expertise either in climate change, Westminster’s local community, or the subject of participatory democracy in general. A full list of advisory group members can be found in the report.
The Process
The Westminster Citizens’ Climate Assembly brought together 47 randomly selected residents, reflecting the diversity of Westminster. Members met four times across June and July 2023. Members participated in around 30 hours of learning, deliberation and decision-making in total. The overall design had three key stages:
Day 1 & 2
| Learning about the basics of climate change, its local impacts and opportunities for change through the lens of fairness |
Day 3
| Deliberating on all information provided through the learning phase |
Day 4
| Decision-making and agreeing on a final vision, principles and set of recommendations through rounds of voting |
Each day was led by two independent facilitators. Members were arranged into small groups, each with an independent facilitator and supported by a note taker to capture the main parts of the discussions. Tables were changed up every day, ensuring everyone had an opportunity to speak to new Members, share new ideas and forge relationships.
Between sessions, Members joined online ‘micro group’ sessions each led by a facilitator. These small group discussions offered an informal opportunity for Members to connect between sessions, ask questions, raise issues and allow relationships to grow.
What's Next?
On 7th September 2023 a delegation of Members presented their recommendations to Cabinet Members at the council’s quarterly Climate Leadership Group. On 20th September, the recommendations were acknowledged at Full Council via a motion, with a volunteer from the assembly delivering a short speech reflecting on their experiences and providing context to the recommendations. An evening reception was held for Members, speakers, council officers, elected officials and other stakeholders who supported the delivery of the Assembly to thank them for their contributions.
The recommendations will feed into the next iteration of the Climate Emergency Action Plan. Westminster City Council has committed to ongoing collaboration and partnership between assembly participants, wider partners and the council to act on the recommendations.