December 2009
Report of the ‘High-Level Workshop on Governance for a Low-Carbon Society’. The workshop was organised by Atomium – European Institute for Science, Media and Democracy under the scientific guidance of Lund University and with the patronage and participation of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in order to assess possible concrete solutions to reach the carbon transition targets set for the coming years.
Introduction
The COP15 United Nations Summit on Climate Change has brought a lot of attention to the environmental challenges that our planet will face in the near future. The developments in technology and productivity of the last century have not only radically changed our lives and increased our dependency on energy; they have also shown us the impact of our actions and lifestyle.
In recognition of the complexities of this issue and the vastness of the subject, Atomium – European Institute for Science, Media and Democracy and Lund University organised the High-Level Workshop and writing of its report on Governance for a Low-Carbon Society to stimulate new insights and ideas from bringing together leading thinkers from university, industry, media and policy makers to discuss on the real issues and barriers of this debate.
This report focuses on the governance of transitions for a low-carbon society. Carrying out such transitions involves unprecedented challenges for political institutions and processes, and most likely requires new and innovative approaches to governance. The objective here is to anticipate and analyse such challenges, and explore possible ways forward.