Our Money, Our Planet

A report that outlines possible ways to address climate change through participatory budgeting and Citizens Assemblies.

There is overwhelming evidence that we are in a climate emergency. It is of maximum importance that we move on from debating the evidence towards taking immediate action.

Given the reluctance of politicians to take decisive action so far this appears to remain a very challenging task. This report outlines some possible ways to make some progress, based on our experience and knowledge of participatory approaches, which put citizens into the driving seat of decision-making whilst improving transparency and governance at a local authority level. One process is Participatory Budgeting (PB). Another is Citizens’ Juries and Assemblies. Both are discussed within this report. We have also drawn on the findings of our series of ‘Our Money, Our Planet’ workshops. We held these workshops across the UK in 2019. Their aim was to explore how Participatory Budgeting might most effectively help to address our impending climate crisis, and its links to a Green New Deal.

Source: Shared Future, PB Partners
Author information: Alan Budge, Jez Hall

Year of publication: 2019