Trust is at the centre of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue – so what about the public’s trust?

Collective energy seems focussed on three negotiating areas. Firstly, the first ‘Global Stocktake’ – a monitoring framework which can evaluate collective progress on achieving agreed global commitments on climate action. It can also provide evidence to catalyse new ambitions. 

Another key area – as always – is climate finance. Dr. Jaber reminded the audience of the lagging progress on the goal (set a decade ago) of $100 billion per year from high income to low income countries most affected by the crisis. 

The third area is realising and accelerating national plans to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to the new realities of climate change, and Dr. Jaber emphasised the need for collaboration across sectors and the need for a just transition.

Each of these areas depends on public engagement. The loss and damage fund was won due to huge pressure from campaigners and citizens from around the world. A just transition is not possible without bringing people from every community on the journey to a low carbon future. But once again, the piece that could have had a real impact on people was ignored. 

In the COP process, there is a mechanism to engage people on climate change: ‘Action for Climate Empowerment‘ (ACE). At the last COP, a 4 year strategy on ACE mandated parties to develop national strategies covering six areas: climate education and public awareness, training, public participation, public access to information, and international cooperation on these issues. Successful implementation is key to climate action, especially in an era of a trust deficit – but it has been absent in Petersberg.

In fact, ACE has never been particularly prioritised by parties or even civil society. A review of technical submissions to the negotiating areas shows very few references to ACE national strategies and how they relate to these negotiating areas. 

We can’t help but think: how on earth are societies to ‘transform’ without putting people at the heart of those transformations? without building public trust in those making the decisions? without engaging them in solutions? For COP28 to be a success, there needs to be pressure on governments to enact the ACE national strategies that they committed to delivering.

Dr. Jaber did, in fact, talk about trust. He said “expectations are high, but trust is low”. He spoke to a need for active listening, empathy and respect for different points of view. This is astute, because we know from the new Edelman Trust Barometer – which surveys publics across the world – that trust and optimism are at all time lows. 46% of the people surveyed viewed governments as sources of untrustworthy information. When asked who they trust with information about issues like climate change and the economic crisis, people responded: scientists, my co-workers, my CEO, my neighbours, people in my local community and citizens of my country.

We know from all our research at Climate Outreach – although unfortunately this is not yet common knowledge amongst decision makers – that engaged citizens are absolutely essential. In the UK, the Climate Change Committee’s latest assessment argues 32% of emissions reductions up to 2035 require decisions by individuals and households to adopt low carbon technologies, choose low-carbon products and services, and reduce carbon-intensive consumption. The recent IPCC assessment report found that 40-70% of carbon emissions reductions could come from demand side measures. All of these need to involve people, helping them make different choices and understand the balance of co-benefits and trade offs. 

It’s not just about lifestyle change, either. The necessary systematic change through policies and their implementation via infrastructure, land use, business transformation and facilitated culture shift also require peoples’ buy-in. 

We need to see ACE strategies being prioritised and funded so that the highly ambitious and necessary goals to transform, decarbonise and adapt societies are possible. Initiatives like climate assemblies and participatory environmental planning have shown people’s participation is possible and desired. Now it’s time for governments to catalyse this, and put people at the centre of their decision-making and negotiations on climate.