Citizen participation only works if there is practical added value. Everything else is show.
Innsbruck (OTS) – Politicians play too much for time when it comes to the climate. There are definitely signs that many citizens would dare more.
The glaciers are disappearing. The Carinthian Pasterze, the largest glacier in Austria, can be watched melting in real time. At the same time, word is getting around that drought and water shortages are no longer just a problem in southern Europe. This news is fact, not climate alarmism. That can worry you. Does not have to. Somehow it keeps going. Just different. Politicians receive scientific advice and know that the time window for climate policy action is becoming ever narrower. Admittedly, there has been an increase – for example in the case of alternative energy. Nevertheless, a lot of time is still being played. There is no consensus between the ÖVP and the Greens on the climate protection law. It is particularly bitter that politicians know that the general public is needed for climate protection and adaptation to climate change, but at the same time tramples on their willingness to participate.
There is no other way to understand it when 93 concrete recommendations for action by last year’s Climate Council have disappeared into a drawer. Even if it was clear from the beginning that there was no democratic legitimacy for implementation, 100 randomly selected citizens from all walks of life showed which reforms would be in the interest of the climate. You don’t have to open the emotional minefield of 100 km/h straight away. There are enough topics where a large part would go along. Ignoring the messages from the Climate Council was a missed opportunity. Citizens’ councils might certainly initiate reform processes. So it was more PR show than involvement. This disappointment fuels the feeling that “they up there” don’t listen to “they down there”. Participation processes may be more strenuous than top-down politics, but they create more trust.
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