2025 Volume 38 Issue 2 Pages 33-43
There is a growing demand for local policies to combat climate change among zero-carbon declaring municipalities. Citizens’ Assembly, characterized by collecting diverse citizen opinions by randomly selecting participants providing them compensation, have gained attention as a method for involving residents in climate policy. The spread of online communication tools due to the COVID-19 pandemic has also allowed citizen assemblies to be held online as well as face-to-face.
This study focused on Kitakyushu City, using an online survey to analyze the relationships among the attributes, environmental awareness, climate change perceptions, and willingness to participate in online citizen assemblies. Results showed a general high level of awareness and urgency toward global warming. Especially respondents in their 60s and above exhibited higher environmental consciousness and proactive behavior than younger respondent groups, whereas those in their 50s and younger were more likely to lack information and question the impact of individual actions. Respondents were categorized into four groups based on their climate change awareness: G1 - Indifferent (46％), G2 - Proactive (26％), G3 - Skeptical (9％), and G4 - Passive (19％). Differences in climate action engagement were observed between these groups. However, there was no significant difference in willingness to join online citizens’ assembly, suggesting that compensated participation might encourage involvement from less interested groups.
