Equitable and empowering participatory policy design strategies to accelerate just climate action

Inter- and intra-country inequalities hamper adaptation and resilience capacity to climate change. Achieving a climate resilient future requires long-term visions, system-oriented approaches, cross-sector collaborations, and good climate governance, while centering on equity and justice in policy making. Central to these governance efforts is an informed and active society with concrete mechanisms to influence decision making. Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) provides the framework to attain climate policy coherence that integrates the capacities and needs of all members of society into ambitious and effective strategies. This paper proposes a novel approach to policy making, applied to the co-creation of a national climate empowerment plan for the United States that encompasses local participation, leadership, and consent. The approach is based on a combination of participatory backcasting and the Talanoa process structure and principles of multi-level, transdisciplinary, transparency and inclusive dialogues. The proposed approach is beneficial for the advancement of ambitious, practical, and flexible plans with broad-based buy-in from stakeholders ranging from policymakers to relevant actors to frontline and marginalized communities to institutions.