Who We Are

People’s Voice on Climate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership-based advocacy group based in Washington State. By partnering with communities, organizations, and governments to establish climate assemblies and other deliberative bodies across the United States, we promote deliberative democracy as an inclusive pathway to equitable and effective climate action.

Our goal: to catalyze unprecedented, widespread democratic engagement in response to the global climate emergency.

How We Got Here

In September 2019, the Protectors of the Salish Sea—a group of Indigenous organizers and allies also known as “The Protectors”—began a sit-in in front of the Capitol Building in Olympia, WA, seeking to press Governor Inslee on his commitment to fighting climate change. Governor Inslee had recently ended his climate-focused bid for the U.S. presidency,  and The Protectors and allied activists saw an opportunity to press Inslee on his commitment to climate action in Washington State. They vowed not to leave the Capitol until the Governor had declared a Climate Emergency. In addition, they promoted the formation of a People’s Council to provide a venue for people’s voices to come together in constructive conversation. 

Meanwhile, in the UK, Extinction Rebellion, a direct-action-oriented environmental organization,  had made headlines in 2019 as it protested on behalf of three simple demands of the UK government: declare a climate emergency, legally commit to reducing carbon emissions to net-zero by 2025, and form a Citizens' Assembly to recommend how progress could be made in that direction. Companion protests took place in cities around the world, including Seattle. In response, the UK government agreed to hold a Climate Assembly.

The Protectors of the Salish Sea maintained their vigil at the Washington State capitol for six months, not abandoning it until March 2020 in the face of the oncoming coronavirus pandemic.  It was then that a group of their allies, inspired by both them and Extinction Rebellion, decided to advocate for a variation of the Protectors’ People’s Council. Passionate about the idea of expanding democratic methods to address the climate crisis, they launched an effort under the name Climate Assembly Washington. This group consisted of climate advocates from around the state, many with backgrounds in other climate-focused organizations such as the Sunrise Movement, Climate Reality, Audubon Washington, 350.org, Olympic Climate Action, and Extinction Rebellion. 

Across the world, all previous Climate Assemblies had been initiated or co-sponsored by governmental bodies. When it became clear that that wasn’t going to happen in Washington, the group tried a new approach. First, they introduced the concept of an Assembly to legislators, state agencies, Tribes, stakeholder organizations, and the public. Next they sought buy-in from key legislators to ensure that the Assembly wouldn’t fall on deaf ears; this was accomplished by a joint editorial by 5 key State House committee chairs in May 2020. With the support of an angel donor and expert guidance from international experts about how to design an Assembly that would be free of bias, independent, transparent, and in conformance with international standards for Citizens’ Assemblies, they organized an independent community team to hire a neutral consulting company to serve as the Coordinating Team for the Assembly. Finally, a broad-based Monitoring Team representing diverse interests, was convened to approve rules to make the Assembly equitable and inclusive, and to ensure that the rules were followed. 

The 2021 WA Climate Assembly was held from January - February 2021, during which 77 demographically-representative Washingtonians deliberated and developed over 140 policy recommendations regarding climate mitigation for the WA State legislature. After the conclusion of the 2021 WA Climate Assembly, People’s Voice on Climate has now shifted focus to supporting the expansion of deliberative democracy in communities across the United States, working with policy-makers, advocates, and ordinary citizens to share lessons learned from the WA Climate Assembly.