Publication: Open Government and Climate Change: Leveraging Transparency, Participation, and Accountability for Effective Climate Action
Date
2022
ISSN
Published
2022
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
The world needs more urgent and
ambitious action to address climate change. Seventy-one
countries have pledged to reach net-zero emissions by
midcentury. Nevertheless, achieving decarbonization and
adapting to climate change will require fundamental changes
in the production of goods and services by firms and the
consumption patterns and behavior of citizens. Climate
change poses difficult challenges for policy makers, and
three particular challenges make the open government
principles of transparency, participation, and
accountability especially important. First, countries often
face the political challenge of credibly committing to
climate action over the long term, in that they must commit
to action over multiple electoral cycles if the private
sector, households, communities, and public entities are to
adopt new technologies and change behavior. Second, climate
change requires coordination between government and
nongovernment actors, as there will be winners and losers
along the way and governments will need to work toward
consensus to balance the outcomes. Third, governments have
to translate promises into climate action. The principles of
open government can be especially useful in tackling all
three challenges by harnessing and ensuring citizen trust in
government and in the legitimacy of climate-directed policy
decisions. This note will show how the use of open
government principles and mechanisms can make a notable
contribution to climate change action. It provides examples
of such measures as well as an inventory of existing good
practices and tools, which can serve as a source of
inspiration for policy makers and citizens alike.
Citation
“World Bank. 2022. Open Government and Climate Change: Leveraging Transparency, Participation, and Accountability for Effective Climate Action. Climate Governance Papers;. © Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/38331 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”