Use storytelling; be honest about systemic change; invest in communicating; and avoid binaries: these are all key recommendations for organising successful society-wide conversations for the transition to Net Zero from research by the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO).
Much like societies have made important public health interventions, to reduce levels of smoking and encourage people to exercise more regularly, to improve health outcomes, Net Zero targets will need policy programmes to encourage people to act differently.
In this article, I share some insights from collective climate action in Northern Ireland, which not only contributed to enactment of NI’s first climate act but also served as a mechanism for unprecedented cross-party, cross-community collaboration as a crucial pre-requisite to commence our transition to a sustainable, net-zero future.
Around the world, policymakers are reconciling the long-term need to tackle climate change with public backlash against policies that would ensure a path to Net Zero.
