“Together, we can do much better than this.” This was just one of the messages highlighted during the citizen’s Global Assembly presentation in Glasgow at the COP26, on November 1st. The Global Assembly is a project that gave ordinary people from all over the world the opportunity to be heard in this crucially important conference and to suggest to world leaders ideas and steps to tackle the ecological crisis. Prior to the event, the members of the Global Assembly worked together to build an interim version of their declaration that was presented at the event, and kept working until they published the full version a few days ago. DCN, through its sub-organization of DCN Uzbekistan, had the honor to be one of the organizations which played a role in the Assembly.

Citizens Assemblies are not a new concept. During the last few years, many countries have given the opportunity to groups consisting of randomly selected (but demographically representative) citizens to deliberate on crucial issues at a national level and present their suggestions to their governing authorities. But this was the first time that such an initiative took place on a global scale. Of course, the matter in discussion could not have been anything other than the climate and ecological crisis.

The Global Assembly has two important parts, the Core Assembly and Community Assemblies. Both try to answer a common question: how can humanity address the climate and ecological crisis in a fair and effective way?

Community Assemblies take place at the local level all over the world. A Community Assembly can be a neighborhood, a company, a school, a place of worship, a sports club, or just a group of people who share common interests. Anyone can form a Community Assembly, use the learning material provided by the Global Assembly, deliberate on the issue, and thus get the chance to have a say in global decision-making. Community Assemblies will continue taking place until March and their recommendations will be included in the March 2022 Global Assembly's final report.

The Core Assembly took place online and consisted of 100 members. These members were chosen through a global lottery using a NASA database of human population density. 100 points around the world were selected from where participants were actively recruited. One of these points landed in Uzbekistan (in the Andijan region). DCN Uzbekistan was selected by the Global Assembly to help gather 6 potential local participants. Through a second lottery conducted by the Global Assembly, the final 100 participants that formed the Core Assembly were selected. One of the potential Uzbekistani participants, Jannat Rakhimova, a 29-year- old journalist, was selected to be a member of the Core Assembly.

The sortition method allowed the Global Assembly’s organizers to make the Core Assembly as representative of the demographic profile of the global population as possible. The Assembly’s members are of all ages, come from completely different backgrounds, languages, professions, education levels, and even different attitudes towards climate change. 60 percent of the participants came from Asia and 17 percent from Africa, half were women, and 70 percent were those who earn $10 a day or less. These 100 people represent a snapshot of the population of the planet.

First, the Assembly members learned about the issue of the climate crisis through discussions with experts and studying learning material (this material is available on the Global Assembly’s website, so anyone can have access to it). The participants worked in small groups (4-5 people) and analyzed certain issues, giving their vision of solving the problem. These groups met two or three times a week in three-hour sessions to deliberate. Once a week all the Core Assembly’s members met again to exchange what they had discussed in their small groups. Based on their proposals and votes, the declaration was formed.

Regarding her experience being one of the Assembly’s members, Jannat commented, “for me, it wasn't the first time I had experience with people from different countries, but the eco-advocacy was of great relevance this time [..]. The process of the Global Assembly was a long one. For 3 months we met several times a week in Zoom Conferences and discussed environmental issues and tried to propose solutions. In the second month, we watched more COP26 videos and wrote mini-essays on each topic. The third month included summarising and finalising the Resolution. We argued a lot with the participants and proposed our own points. In the end, we voted for the final resolution.”

Jannat had an interest in the topic of climate change prior to joining the Global Assembly, so she was already aware of the issue. In fact, she is an eco-blogger and eco-activist, so she enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of the participants and their aspirations to change the world through activism in their communities. She believes that society is a strong force for good. “We can, through activism in our group, community or neighborhood, raise these sensitive issues. As a journalist, I can say that social media is a powerful weapon in solving many problems, even with the environment. I write a lot on my blog about ecology and eco-environment and tourism. When there was a problem with the landfill in my town, Yangiyul, I wrote about it on my Facebook and Instagram and the landfill was cleared the same evening. I consider myself an Influencer, and I love being one.”

As a Community Host, DCN’s task was to support Jannat. It acted as a bridge between the participant and the Assembly. Mirzo Subkhanov (DCN Uzbekistan member) served as the community host presenter and accompanied Jannet during the process, reminding her of the meetings and offering support when needed.

Later in the process, 10 members out of the initial 100 were chosen (again through sortition) to present an early version of their declaration to COP26 on November 1st. The final Global Assembly’s “People's Declaration for the Sustainable Future of Planet Earth” was validated by the Assembly members on December 18th and published a few days later.

In summary, the declaration asks for the enforcement of the Paris Agreement based on fairly spread responsibility among countries (e.g., large emitters are more responsible), the equal participation for everyone in decision making regarding the climate crisis, the inclusion in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the right to a clean environment, the codification of Ecocide as a crime in both national and international law, the inclusion of climate-related education in formal and non-formal education, and the support of a fair energy transition for all counties.

People's Declaration for the Sustainable Future of Planet Earth

01 The Paris Agreement is humanity’s best chance; it must be affirmed and enforced by all governments and people, and rigorously monitored in collaboration with citizens and grassroots mechanisms.

02 Equity must be a core focus when meeting the goals in the Paris Agreement; spreading responsibility according to the capabilities and historical contributions of countries and corporations is vital.

03 Actions on the climate crisis must be participatory, enabling people at all levels to contribute to decisions on climate, particularly groups from countries least historically responsible for and most affected by the climate crisis.

04 The right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment must be included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and protected at multiple levels of law; we should raise awareness & citizen engagement on human rights in relation to climate and the environment.

05 This Declaration is grounded in the importance of Nature having intrinsic values and rights, and in all beings on Earth forming an interconnected whole; we must protect Nature from Ecocide legally, engaging communities and establishing multiple governing bodies to enable this.

06 Education on climate change must be formally integrated, within the school syllabus and in governmental communications, and also informally disseminated through more accessible platforms, like social media, to reach as many as possible.

07 To ensure a fair and just energy transition, we must ensure that countries and people with less means are supported through a gradual change, and recognize the shared responsibility between citizens, governments and corporations in enabling it.

More about the declaration here.

The most amazing thing when thinking about the Assembly and its declaration is the possibility of bringing together people from all over the world and the great benefits that arise from combatting the issue of climate change. Global Assembly and its community host organizations like DCN formed a digital community of individuals that would otherwise have never met. They gave ordinary people, that are often not represented in decision-making, the opportunity to unite their voices and make them heard. Through this initiative, participants who would otherwise be considered very different, had the chance to talk and understand each other’s worries and the everyday challenges they face due to climate change. They collaborated, shared ideas, built on each other’s suggestions, and drafted a proposal that tries to be as representative of the global population’s opinion as it can be and calls on world leaders to act immediately. This could not have been achieved any other way.

Building digital communities online is a new way to enhance and ensure democracy. It is the best possible way to respond to the global challenges that we face, like climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic, and those that will come. What the Global Assembly did can be considered a kind of an answer to those that two years ago, when the pandemic emerged, claimed that the only way to face such global challenges is national isolation. Of course, citizens’ assemblies and digital communities are not a miracle cure, but when done right, they give space for the best ideas to be heard and can encourage democratic practices, allowing everyone to be part of the decision-making process and to have a word in the issues that affect them. The Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, highlighted the importance of such initiatives in her speech at the COP26 Summit stating that “often some of the best ideas, some of the best solutions, and some of the most intense pressure comes from citizens and communities [...]. A Climate Assembly provides a platform for those often unheard voices – especially the voices of women, of young people and those from the Global South. People must be able to bring not just their views, but most importantly of all, their lived experiences directly to the table and to do so not as outside observers but as participants and as equals”.

It is a new model of democracy and it deserves to be expanded. Considering the global challenges that we must face, we need to think big and be driven by maximum ambition.

Despite the publishing of the People’s declaration, the Assembly’s work is not over. In fact, this was only the first step of the process. The Assembly now has to prepare its final submission for COP26 and ensure that their declaration will be heard and that it will be taken into serious consideration by world leaders and anyone else involved in decision-making processes. Simultaneously, Community Assemblies will continue taking place up until March 2022, trying to reach as many people as possible. In the long term, the Assembly’s vision is to have over 10 million annual participants by 2030 and become a permanent piece of global infrastructure. DCN will try to be on their side and support this great cause!

Author: Giannis Delimaris

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