Have Japan’s climate citizens’ assemblies produced valuable recommendations? Two case studies under different governance models

In Japan, almost all Climate Citizens’ Assemblies (CCAs) to date have been held at the municipal level. Although considerable efforts have been made to produce valuable recommendations—those that go beyond existing local climate policies-, the usefulness of CCAs in Japan continues to be questioned. This case study examines two contrasting governance models of CCA to identify the factors that enable the generation of valuable recommendations. The findings confirm that introducing new perspectives is crucial; that provision of relevant policy knowledge, including advanced policy ideas from other jurisdictions, is essential; that supporting citizen members in deepening their local experiences is meaningful; that providing real-time, multidisciplinary information tailored to the specific municipality is effective; and that follow-up activities after the assembly concludes are highly beneficial.