Let’s harness citizen power for climate
COVID-19 response shows we can do it, James Boothroyd and Stephen Sheppard say.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of at least three things: the frailty of systems that ignore environmental threats, such as viruses; the value of scientific evidence paired with strong government leadership; and, above all, the power of resilient, well-informed communities.
Citizens working together have flattened the COVID-19 curve in B.C. with little coercion. How then can we harness this people power to straighten the hockey stick — that graph we’ve all seen of global temperatures that decline steadily for a millennium until about 1960 when it shoots upward — and tackle the less tangible, more complex, potentially more catastrophic climate emergency?
We have only 10 years to halve our carbon footprints to avoid the worst, according to scientists.
First in line for answers will be municipalities that have declared “climate emergencies.” Many already have ambitious plans, but know that these will fall short without more public support and mass behaviour change. Vancouver, for example, has identified six Big Moves, and 53 ambitious actions it hopes to achieve.
As authors of proven approaches to mobilizing residents for climate action (Green Bloc and Cool ’Hood Champs), we believe that cities can scale up, and that now is the time for innovation.
How? By collaborating intensively with networks of residents, empowering them with simple, science-based processes and fun, rewarding tools for behaviour change. And giving citizens more space to work together.
Different municipalities will want to choose different methods. Vancouver, for example, could give its climate emergency plan real traction with a network of citizen-volunteers committed to transformative local action, in a trial or competition covering 100 diverse neighbourhoods. These “transformers” would be encouraged to recruit fellow residents to undertake practical projects large and small, aligned with city strategies, in their immediate communities. Each neighbourhood would be free to choose proven approaches to promote stick-straightening behaviours and climate proofing.
These volunteers would need steady support. For collective impact, one or more NGOs rooted in different communities (environmental, social justice and cultural) could recruit, train and co-ordinate the transformers, drawing on homegrown precedents like Cool ’Hood Champs and the city’s Resilient Neighbourhoods program. The city could help organize training and direct support through hubs, such as schools.
To underscore its willingness to experiment and motivate local citizens, the city should also allocate new space to community-led projects. For example, it could free up five per cent of road pavement (one to two parking spaces per block) for tree planting, green space, tool libraries, gathering places, “cool refuges,” etc., and allow “transformer communities” to choose how this space is used.
A network of 100 transformers, each with 10 participating households, could engage at least 1,000 households within a couple of years to model the changes we need and support the city’s Big Moves. On Big Move 4 (zero-emission home heating), for example, trained champions could help groups of residents doing renovations to access financial incentives like bulk-buy discounts on electric heat pumps for heating and cooling. Big Move 4 accounts for half the city’s reduction target of 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 per year by 2030.
Citizen champions could also test new tools such as the soon-to-come Lighter Footprint App and iCoolkit, contributing to the city’s other big moves. Inspired by Green Bloc, which lightens ecological footprints of households by an average of 16 per cent in 12 months, the app promotes behaviours such as cycling and eating less meat, and connects with parents or teenagers isolated at home. The iCoolkit provides positive ways for families and neighbours to learn how to climate proof their homes, yards and street.
Mobilizing British Columbians to do their part in straightening the hockey stick will not be easy, but with strong leadership, clear guidelines and targeted investments in citizen leadership, we could scale up promising madein-B.C. solutions.