Develop the first index to assess ecological democracy, and establish an action to implement the UNFCCC Action for Climate Empowerment program. (FRPA0004)

Commitment ID

FRPA0004

Commitment Title

To jointly develop a 1st index to assess ecological democracy and establish an action to implement the UNFCCC Action for Climate Empowerment program, which was renewed at COP26 in Glasgow, at city level, in order to strengthen citizen participation.

Problem

Addressing the ecological emergency means significantly increasing citizen participation in the climate governance of cities, in order to drive transitions that are democratic, socially fair, and faster. A growing number of local authorities, such as the City of Paris, are setting up participative and deliberative processes involving citizens in their climate policies. However, most of these processes are insufficiently inclusive, struggle to mobilize the public, and lack influence on decision-making.

Status quo

The City of Paris has introduced numerous participative and consultative approaches to climate issues, with mixed results and impacts that have yet to be fully assessed. During the revision of its Climate Plan, the city mobilized its citizens in 140 sessions of public deliberation, which culminated in the publication of a white paper on consultation. This initiative reflects a double determination to involve citizens' expertise in the transition of neighborhoods, and to articulate local impulses with the overall management of operations. The city now wishes to strengthen the consistency and impact of its participative initiatives to involve residents in the implementation of the Climate Plan.

Action

The commitment seeks to improve the transparency, participation and inclusiveness of the City of Paris' climate governance, while simultaneously creating a new common ground for ecological democracy that will benefit both its climate city networks and the local open government partnership.

It has three components :
- To jointly develop the first ecological democracy index, enabling cities to assess and analyze their actions to engage citizens in their climate and ecological transition projects, and empower them to take action at their own level;
- To develop an action plan based on this assessment to increase citizens' commitment to the ecological transition.
- To enable the exchange of information, experience and best practice with other cities on an international scale through existing city networks.

Expected results to include:
- More consistent, inclusive, and influential participatory approaches.
- Improved citizen access to ecological information.
- A pioneering role for the City of Paris in climate networks and open government.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

Our commitment is in line with our goal of establishing strong climate governance at city level, by fully involving citizens in climate action. In the long term, it will strengthen the City of Paris' ability to develop citizen participation in order to bring about a more democratic, fair and rapid ecological transition. It activates key levers to this end:
- The adoption of an assessment tool, the Climate Democracy Index, to capitalize on and improve local participatory initiatives and other efforts to promote transparency and information.
- The reinforcement of a shared inter-departmental vision on the benefits of citizen engagement to accelerate the City's transition, the strengths and weaknesses of existing initiatives, and ways to improve, thanks to the joint creation of this tool and a participatory evaluation.
- The development of experience sharing with other cities on citizen engagement and climate change.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

At a global level, the "Action for Climate Empowerment" (ACE, Article 12 of the Paris Agreement) initiative provides a common framework that calls on governments to integrate citizen involvement into their national and sub-national climate strategies. ACE integrates six key components: citizen participation, access to information, education, training, public awareness and international cooperation. This common ACE framework has not yet been extended to the local level, despite the major role played by cities in tackling the climate emergency closer to the people. To date, local authorities have stronger at mobilizing citizens in the design and implementation of fair ecological transitions in all sectors (including transport, energy, construction, waste management, etc.) and in the implementation of strategies to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Primary Policy Area

Crisis Response, Right to Information

Primary Sector

Environment & Climate

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?