Citizen Participation and Education for a Climate-Neutral Future
There is no one-dimensional path that will lead us to a climate-neutral future, but citizens will decide on its success.
Note: The full report was published in the Energy Forum, International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) by the authors Dieter Oesterwind, Philipp Riegebauer with the title “Paths to a climate-neutral future — the citizens decide on its success” in January 2022
There is no question that climate change has picked up speed and we are trying to fight it with new technologies.
The EU and Germany have set themselves the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2045. This put pressure to reach resource efficiency and use carbon-neutral energy sources to a high extent. A secure and affordable energy supply are equally important goals. The goal will encompass energy production, waste recycling, and consumption patterns and requires the energy systems of European member states to be completely transformed over the next decades.
However, as resolutely as these targets have been formulated, the path to achieving them is, as we have seen, unfortunately far from simple. The following figure briefly reveals uncertainties of the energy transition in the example of Germany.
It depends on the citizen
Whereas in prehistoric times it was the tribal leaders and later the kings and churches that dictated the way of life for the subjects, today it is the free will of the citizens that determines the destiny.
This puts us in the middle of the social field of tension of the energy transition. In this field of tension, politics can only stimulate the goals (e.g. Climate Energy Law, the decision of Federal Constitutional Court from 2021). However, politics cannot guarantee whether or not they are achieved. Ultimately, it remains dependent on a basic social consensus. A basic consensus that recognizes that human-induced climate change shows the limits of its actions.
The containment of the imponderables associated with the energy transition will depend on whether citizens are willing to adapt their way of life, their expectations, norms, and values to the political goals.
All this will be necessary if the climate crisis is not to become a crisis for humanity. (IPCC, Sixth Assessment Report, 2021) For this, we especially need new positive and hopeful images of the future for which it is worth fighting, arguing, and working.
Ideas are already becoming visible
The air in the cities has become cleaner thanks to car catalytic converters. International efforts have drastically reduced the hole in the ozone layer. This positive list can be continued.
There is always much to be done. The fossil world still dominates, but the structures of a new global energy system are already visible on the horizon. In recent years, global investment spending on solar and wind plants has been higher than spending on fossil power plants. More and more green funds are investing in climate protection projects.
To produce goods, the specific energy input is continuously reduced. And there is also a mosaic of many new visions of the future:
- We are transforming the previously car-oriented city into a colorful city with lots of greenery, small shops, crafts, and affordable housing.
- Autonomous mobility will become more convenient and environmentally friendly.
- Farmers who are committed to animal welfare and organic farming.
- Consumers who don’t follow every fashionable trend but focus on durable quality.
All over the world, ideas are already becoming visible. Nothing changes overnight. It takes time for a local idea to become a big movement.
At the next UN World Climate Conference in Glasgow this autumn, perhaps the awareness will prevail that the global community expects more than mere tongue-in-cheek statements, but concrete, verifiable action. But this presupposes an awareness that accepts that all material goods, which are firmly anchored in the center of our lives, cannot be had without the consumption of raw materials and energy. They are our existential basis of life.
We have an open society with great creative potential that can show its strength here. A society that succeeds in embracing the imponderables of the energy transition will honor its climate-neutral, reliable, and affordable energy system at the end of 2050.
How do we want to live in the future? For a liberal democratic society, this is an exciting, emotional, and perhaps even vital question. Decisions for the future must be made today. It also requires involving the society and education system to build on an informed public.
However, to educate sustainable thinking in society, we must not lose sight of the fact that there is no one-dimensional path that will lead us to a climate-neutral future.
Sources:
IPCC, Sixth Assessment Report, Headline Statements from the Summary for Policymakers, 2021: AR6 WGI Summary for Policymakers Headline Satements (ipcc.ch)
Climate Energy Law, Federal Government of Germany, decision of Federal Constitutional Court from 31th of August, 2021: Klimaschutzgesetz: Klimaneutralität bis 2045. (bundesregierung.de)
Authors:
Professor Dr. Dieter Oesterwind, Head of the Centre for Innovative Energy Systems (ZIES), Düsseldorf, Germany (ret.)
Dr. Philipp Riegebauer, Centre for Innovative Energy Systems (ZIES), Düsseldorf, Germany and BABLE Smartcities GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany
