An exploration of a global citizen assembly addressing climate crises through innovative methods, diverse representation, and collaborative decision-making. The podcast delves into the challenges and successes of forming a diverse assembly, developing proposals for a sustainable future, and empowering global citizens to take climate action. Reflecting on personal histories and environmental data, the conversation reimagines governance and democracy for a global future.
Creating a global citizens assembly in 2020 aimed to address climate crises beyond national boundaries.
Utilizing sortition and a global location lottery ensured diverse representation in the assembly discussions.
The impact of the assembly on advocating for environmental rights and fostering behavioral changes among participants.
Deep dives
Initiating a Global Citizens Assembly on Climate Crisis
In the midst of the 2020 pandemic, John Stever embarked on creating a global citizens assembly dedicated to addressing the climate and ecological crises at a species level, beyond national boundaries. With idealism and support from partners globally, this groundbreaking initiative aimed to reimagine global governance by amplifying ordinary voices and incorporating collective intelligence. The interconnectedness highlighted by the pandemic provided the impetus to design a radical democratic experiment, leading to the innovative concept of a global lottery for assembly membership.
Designing a Representative Global Citizens Assembly
The assembly architects integrated the concept of sortition, introduced by Larry Lessig back in 2017, to ensure global representativeness. Leveraging a NASA dataset on population density, a global location lottery was conducted with an aim to include 100 individuals from diverse geographic locations. Special algorithms were devised to prevent the overrepresentation of any single nation, navigating challenges like the lack of global citizen registries to create a forum reflecting a maximum level of diversity across the planet.
Fostering Deliberative Global Discourse on Climate Crisis
The Global Citizens Assembly's deliberative process began with harmonizing a linguistically diverse group of participants through individual support structures like translators and tech assistance. Members engaged in small breakout groups to deliberate on principles guiding fair and effective action towards climate and ecological challenges. Iterative discussions culminated in the creation of the 'People's Declaration for the Sustainable Future of Planet Earth,' encapsulating diverse perspectives and culminating in a collective vision for mankind's environmental stewardship.
Impact of Global Citizens Assembly on Rights to Clean Environment
The podcast discusses the impact of a global citizens assembly on advocating for the rights to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Members of the assembly pushed for the inclusion of these rights in the universal declaration of human rights, emphasizing the importance of protecting the environment at multiple levels of law. The assembly's efforts contributed to the United Nations General Assembly voting to include these rights in the declaration, highlighting the significance of global collaboration in addressing environmental issues.
Transformation and Activation through Global Citizens Assembly
The episode explores the transformative impact of the global citizens assembly on participants and organizers. Through discussions and shared experiences, the assembly fostered understanding, empathy, and deeper awareness of the climate and ecological crisis. Many members reported behavior changes and increased activism post-assembly, indicating a tangible shift in their engagement with environmental issues. The assembly's design empowered individuals to take ownership of community and global challenges, leading to continued advocacy and engagement beyond the assembly.
In 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, Jon Stever launched an extraordinary experiment to draw together a representative sample of the world to discuss the climate and ecological crisis the world is facing. In this conversation, I talk to him about how he and his team did that, and what it teaches us about the potential for citizen assemblies generally.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
