How do we ‘Energise Britain’ with the new public participation plan? – Inside track

This post is by Rachael Orr, CEO of Climate Outreach.

Connection. Neighbourhood. Hope.

Climate minister Katie White chaired a roundtable event in Sheffield last week to launch ‘Energising Britain’. This is the government’s new plan on how we can all feel more involved in tackling climate change, protecting nature and supporting the government’s clean power mission.

Connection, neighbourhood and hope were three of the words the minister used to summarise the contributions of some of the participants in the discussion. They feel to me like a brilliant foundation for thinking about how we reflect and then build on the work that is happening, and needs to happen, to ensure everyone in the country knows how they can be more involved in climate and nature action.

The event was hosted by The Green Estate CIC, who have transformed 42 hectares of derelict land and heritage buildings into a sustainable, biodiverse landscape for the community. They manage six public parks, including growing vibrant urban meadows, run a green waste recycling service to produce peat-free compost, and host community events, educational programmes, and volunteering opportunities in gardening and conservation. It was their CEO, Roz Davies, who talked about them bringing ‘hope’ to people and place.

Shining a spotlight on organisations like The Green Estate, and the thousands of other inspiring community projects happening across the country, is clearly a key aim of the plan. It commits the government to holding an annual ‘Energising Britain’ event, bringing together people and organisations doing amazing work engaging and involving people in climate and nature.

We need a sense of what’s happening
At Climate Outreach, groups often tell us that they don’t know enough about what other groups are up to, and how they could learn from them. We don’t have a sense of the scale of work that’s happening around the country, and we need one. We hope annual events can start to provide that.

We think the events would be even better if complimented with two additions. First, the government facilitating and funding space to share successes and hard learnings. The Green Estate make their work look effortless, but it is not easy. Other communities benefit so much from knowing where others have succeeded, and failed, along the way.

Second, we need some broader communications and storytelling, at scale. We know from our research that most people don’t know about the progress we have already made in tackling climate change. When you tell them, they feel happy and proud. Climate communicators are always impatient for faster progress, and we should be. But it means we often forget to tell people about the work that’s already underway or the successes we’ve had, from closing down our coal power stations, to powering half of our electricity with clean power, to planting wildflower meadows on unused land at The Green Estate. We need a drumbeat of stories, told loudly, that show people that progress isn’t just possible, it’s already happening.

As well as showing how communities are already engaging, we hoped that this plan would be ambitious in laying out how the government will do more to involve people in policy design and policy rollout.

Listening has to be central
There is one really bold new commitment: the creation of a new Youth Climate and Nature Panel. Appointed next year, the panel will see young people have a direct input into key government policies and priorities. Really interestingly, it has a stated focus on “collaboration between generations” which feels different and exciting.

This commitment falls under one of the five key principles in the plan, which is ‘listen’. We think this principle has to be central. Far too much communication on climate is talk (or worse, tell). We have to start by listening to people: about their lives, their worries and concerns, and how they think and feel about climate fits into that.

Nowhere is this more crucial than in the government’s Clean Power Mission, where there is a huge amount of work to be done to meaningfully consult and engage people on changes happening in the communities they love. There aren’t any firm commitments on this in Energising Britain, but it’s a key area we think we need to push for more ambition in the coming years.

There’s some other good stuff too: the commitment to undertake new research on public perceptions of fairness (hopefully building on some of our previous research), a new internal Climate and Nature Participation Hub to improve understanding of behavioural science in civil service and a commitment to a new digital advice service on home retrofit launching in 2026.

There’s lots more that could be in the plan. But I’m really heartened by the ongoing invitation to shape and build on it, with and alongside the government. That’s exactly what Climate Outreach intends to do in the coming years. Because, if we can get some greater connection and hope in neighbourhoods around the country, it will be great for people’s lives. And for our planet.

Image: The Green CIC project, courtesy of Alastair Johnstone-Hack / Climate Visuals