Heleen Mees: Will citizen-led climate action leave people out in the cold?

Despite international agreements and global sustainability goals, governments are struggling to adequately respond to and plan for climate change. They are increasingly relying on citizens to take the lead. Citizen-led initiatives like energy collectives are blossoming. But what will more citizen-led governance of climate change mean for those who are unable to get involved? 

Dr. Heleen Mees is an assistant professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University focussing on the roles of citizens and communities in climate change governance. In this interview she tells us about her work exploring the fairness implications of citizen-led governance of climate change.

Your research on citizen-led climate action is extremely topical, especially in the Netherlands. Can you tell us about it?

I’m intrigued by a phenomenon we’re seeing in many European countries at the moment, and especially in the Netherlands. Because governments can’t agree on how to deal with the consequences of  climate change, they’re increasingly relying on other societal actors like businesses and citizens to take the lead. I’m particularly interested in what citizens are doing. Many are active in food and renewable energy collectives, for instance, and this is growing every day. I try to understand how this works.

We already see local governments changing their role from steering what is happening to facilitating it

Why is it important to understand how this works?

With citizens becoming important players in the global fight against climate change, we already see local governments changing their role from steering what is happening to facilitating it. They’re putting increasing responsibility on citizens to govern adaptation to climate change themselves. But what motivates citizens to take matters into their own hands, how are governments facilitating this citizen engagement, and what are its consequences?

What kind of consequences?

I’m talking about fairness implications. Does it mean that some citizens end up better off than others because of different levels of capacity, thereby increasing inequality? 

In the case of energy collectives, if some groups end up in energy poverty because they are less able to take on responsibility themselves, then governments should be aware and able to take action. It’s new territory at the moment, so no one knows what is happening. It’s important that no one is marginalised, intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of this new, citizen-led governance.

It’s important that no one is marginalised, intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of this new, citizen-led governance.

And what do you hope for your research in terms of societal impact?

I hope that my research can support the renewable energy movement to become much larger. If we can ensure that these citizen-led collectives are indeed accessible to everyone, many more people will be able to engage in this growing movement.

Further reading

Mees, H. & Driessen, P. (2019). A framework for assessing the accountability of local governance arrangements for adaptation to climate change. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 62(4), 671-691.

Mees, H.L.P., Uittenbroek, C.J., Hegger, D.L.T. & Driessen, P. P.J. (2019). From citizen participation to government participation: An exploration of the roles of local governments in community initiatives for climate change adaptation in the Netherlands. Environmental Policy and Governance.