KNOCA Launch Event: Making the Most of Climate Assemblies - Playbook for Civil Society Organisations

Civil society organisations (CSOs) are often unsure about how to position themselves in relation to climate assemblies. Should they advocate for assemblies? How should they engage with a proposed assembly in their country, region or municipality? Should they participate in the process or just watch from the side-lines?

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KNOCA aims to help CSOs think through these and other questions. Written by Alina Averchenkova from the LSE Grantham Institute, “Making the Most of Climate Assemblies: Playbook for Civil Society Organisations” makes the case that CSOs can contribute significantly to ensuring assemblies have robust impacts on climate governance. Lack of engagement is a missed opportunity.

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The Playbook provides an 8-stage process for CSOs to consider their role in ways that build their knowledge and confidence to act, developed from a number of interviews and workshops with climate CSOs.

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At our launch event on July 2nd 2024 the lead author, Alina Averchenkova from the LSE Grantham Institute presented the playbook, before hearing reflections on its implications from Oisín Coghlan, the Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth, Ireland. The event also included a discussion and a Q/A lead by our Chair, Graham Smith. Watch it below.

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Here are a few key takeaways from the event:

• CSOs typically don’t make the most of assemblies – they are a great opportunity to bring public voices into public debates and the policy process in ways that cut through.
• CSOs need to engage early with the assembly process to ensure that it is robust and to make the most of the opportunities it generates.
• CSOs can play an important role in ensuring that governments and other actors respond to assembly recommendations given their understanding of and capacity to influence the policy process.
• CSOs can play a critical role in helping to communicate the assembly and its recommendations.

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