ABSTRACT
Repeated polls demonstrate that citizens of the UK and most countries of the world understand that climate change is an urgent threat (e.g. Upham et al, 2009), and most governments, policy makers and environmentalists agree we need to respond rapidly and collectively if we are to deal with the social and environmental impacts effectively (e.g. King, 2004). UK citizens do not respond well to climate change campaigns, which attempt to use fear to motivate behavioural changes (e.g. O'Neill and Nicholson-Cole, 2009), yet the UK Government must develop and maintain a long-term campaign to provide more accessible information around low-carbon consumer choices and behaviours. How is this to be achieved? In this chapter, I argue we need to begin a dialogue about how society reaches the ambitious carbon reduction targets the public wants, and this dialogue must allow for active participation by citizens in exciting and meaningful ways if it is to influence both local and national government policy.
