Queensland Climate Movement

This workshop discussed the potential and limits of government intervention in moves towards a safe climate. The potential of new forms of democratic participation were considered, and a rationale for a wider scope for public participation in decision-making was articulated.

Levels of Policy

Current policies extend from local council regulations, through to regional level planning, to state level legislation and policy, Commonwealth/national and to the international negotiations level.

The major problem is the fragmentation between these levels of governance - leading in some instances to perverse outcomes and contradictory objectives.

What do we want the public to understand is needed and would be adequate, at what levels of government? What do we see as our aim from the political process, and how do we get there?

As a movement, we need to be aware of, but look beyond, current processes and the existing delineations between levels of government. We need to be proactive in voicing what we want to see at a systemic level, and not merely reactive to specific policies and legislation.

Review of Institutions

We need to advocate the need for government to re-examine the institutional and political infrastructure in terms of the capacity to respond to climate change. In specific terms, we must ask of our current institutional arrangements:

• Are they adequate, responsive, authoritative, coherent, aligned and integrated?
• Can they act fast enough?
• Can they respond not only to democratic demands, but also to rapid changes in the environment and in our knowledge of non-linear changes?
• Can they co-ordinate an emergency response?

New Institutional Arrangements

We need an additional process of deliberative democracy to supplement the existing political framework. A people’s policy development process which is acknowledged, empowered and listened to in the context of climate change responses. A pre-condition and an outcome of these arrangements are an active citizenship generating solutions and voicing them.

This starts from the question of what is needed (eg a safe climate), then how can we get there (eg a just and viable transition strategy). This can in turn be presented as a coherent and viable alternative. Questions to be resolved through this process might include:

• What can we agree on?
• What is our values statement?
• What would be needed physically, based on best available science and modelling?
• How can we reach that socially, economically and politically?

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