Establishing the use of climate citizens’ assemblies in Japan: their signifcance and challenges

Transition to a sustainable net zero society is an urgent task, and if it is to be achieve, it will be essential to have the participation of citizens who are responsible for climate damage and emission reduction. Climate citizens’ assemblies have been held mainly in Europe since around 2019. A climate citizens’ assembly is a meeting where citizens selected by random sampling discuss and put together recommendations for use in climate policies of national and local governments. This paper reviews these assemblies, summarizes their signifcance, and looks at what the challenges are to establishing their use in Japan