Climate Change

Discussions on climate change and environmental policies tend to be often polarised in public debates. Not only dealing with energy policies, but such policies also have a wide scope of impact on macro and micro-economics, social organisation, and people's way of life. It is often even more in developing countries due to the fact that they ought to choose overall development models based on the consideration - or non-consideration - of impact on climate change.

Yet, as most of the countries ratified the Paris Agreement (2015) with wide objectives of reduction of carbon emissions, policies must tackle the environmental footprint one way or another. In addition, the scientific consensus over the consequences of global warming urges countries to address these issues to avoid, for instance, sanitary crisis, natural disasters, etc., fostering inclusion and leveraging sustainable development. In this process, which involves crucial societal choices, citizens shall be given a voice in policymaking, so adopted policies truly represent the social trends that accompany change. Arguably, one of the main reasons for the peak of civil unrest during the Yellow Vests movement in France (2019) was the adoption of a carbon tax.

This has been understood by the EU institutions, which even fund the capacities for citizen deliberation and participation for the Green Deal. Overall, deliberative processes tackling climate change are called to become more frequent, as they related to citizens' core way of life and habits. Hence, these policies will be effective and accepted only when public authorities include citizens' in related policy-making.

Implementing INSPIRED prior to the enforcement of climate change-related policy favours consensus over shared analysis, and enables the rise of effective solutions that try to overcome environmental threats in a democratic manner. INSPIRED can help to enhance the legitimacy of policies tackling climate change, and bring the citizens accountable to them.

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