Building support for climate at the ballot box


Livestream link: https://www.youtube.com/live/9ghemRgGXuU?si=qAC0H2-2weBUBUA0

Livestream link: www.youtube.com/live/9ghemRgGXuU?si=qAC0H2-2weBUBUA0

In 2024 countries accounting for nearly half of global emissions will vote. In a number of them the election could have a decisive effect on climate policy. It is no exaggeration to say that the choices voters make this year will shape the world for decades to come.

This discussion in the St Antony’s Visiting Parliamentary Series will analyse how to build support for climate at the ballot box. What do we know about climate and voting? When have political leaders been successful at mobilizing voter support for ambitious climate policy? What are the narratives and approaches that build durable support for the benefits for the transition, while addressing the challenges it brings?

Biographies:

Thomas Hale is Professor at the Blavatnik School of Government and St Antony’s College, Oxford. His research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly. He co-leads the Net Zero Tracker and the Net Zero Regulation and Policy Hub. His latest book is Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing across Time (Princeton, 2024).

Jane Green is Professor at the Department of Politics and International Relations and Nuffield College, Oxford. She is a member of the leadership team of the British Election Study and directs a research centre focusing on accountability, representation, British elections and political science communication beyond academia. Jane is the author of Electoral Shocks: The Volatile Voter in a Turbulent World (OUP 2019).

Chris Skidmore served as MP for Kingswood from 2010-2024. In 2022-2023 he led the Government’s net zero review. He was Minister of State jointly at the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy 2019-2020. He was previously Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care between, at the Department for Education, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Chris also served as Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office. Chris was educated at Bristol Grammar School before studying history at Oxford, where he continued with postgraduate research. He is a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Alex Sobel was elected MP for Leeds North West in 2017. A graduate of the University of Leeds, his background is in the social enterprise sector. In 2019 Alex helped form the Net Zero All-Party Parliamentary Group. In 2020 he was appointed as the shadow minister for Tourism and Heritage, and in 2021 we was appointed as shadow minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment in the Opposition DEFRA Team. He is a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford, for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Iván Duque Márquez served as President of the Republic of Colombia 2018-2022. His public career began as an advisor at the Colombian Ministry of Finance in 2000, from where he left for Washington, DC as Colombia’s senior advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) between 2001 and 2010. He became senator of the Republic of Colombia from 20 July 2014 to 10 April 2018. As President, he signed Colombia’s landmark climate legislation in 2021. President Duque is a Transformational Leadership Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government.