Citizens' ideas on sustainable consumption
On 14 February 2025, the members of the Norwegian Citizens' Assembly on Sustainable Consumption presented their recommendations to the government. Karianne Tung, Minister for Digitalisation and Public Administration, and Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Minister for Climate and Environment, received the citizens' proposals.
Among other things, the Citizens' Assembly proposes stricter rules for the marketing of offers that encourage unnecessary purchases and excessive consumption. A deposit system should also be created for goods such as clothing, shoes and household appliances. Furthermore, the mini-public is calling on the government to set up a committee to draw up sustainability advice modelled on the nutrition advisory service. The assembly participants would also like to see VAT on sustainable goods reduced and taxes on environmentally harmful products increased.
‘We must stop wasting resources’
In total, the Citizens' Assembly members formulated 25 recommendations on the topics of cooperation between government and business, overconsumption, e-commerce and advertising, VAT and taxes, knowledge transfer, education and local sustainability.
‘We must stop wasting our resources. If everyone lived the way we Norwegians do, we would need 3.2 Earths,‘ explained Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen at the presentation of the assembly's recommendations.
40,000 invitations
Norway's first Citizens' Assembly ran from 16 November 2024 to 21 January 2025. The government wanted to receive recommendations and advice from inhabitants on how people can consume less in order to better protect the climate. On 5 September 2024, 40,000 Norwegian residents were therefore invited by text message to the Citizens' Assembly.
The mobile phone numbers contacted were compiled at random. The invited citizens received a link and a code with their text message, which they could use to apply to take part in the draw via the Citizens' Assembly website by 17 September. Of those who expressed an interest, 66 people were selected, 54 of whom took part in the entire Citizens' Assembly. The assembly was a mini-Norway in terms of age, gender, education, place of residence and attitude to consumption.
Young people overrepresented
All residents of Norway aged 18 and over were eligible to participate. The 18-24 age group was more strongly represented in the Citizens' Assembly than in the general population. Instead of six, twelve residents from the youngest age group took part. The reason for this is that this age group has to live with the decisions on climate policy for the longest time. A larger group of young people in the mini-public was also meant to give them more self-confidence and increase their participation in discussions.
‘Norway has a high level of consumption - much higher than nature can sustain,‘ says the assembly website. ‘We buy new clothes and shoes, furniture, household and leisure appliances and electronics to a greater extent than our neighbouring countries and most other countries in Europe.’
How to reduce consumption and live a good life?
Consumption is determined both by politics and by the decisions that each individual makes in their daily lives. The question for the mini-public participants to answer was: How can we work together to reduce our overconsumption of goods while living a good life?
The government wants to know what needs to be done to consume less textiles, shoes, electronics, furniture and appliances for home and leisure by 2030. The aim is to reduce ‘overconsumption’ in a way that is inclusive and fair.
"People know best where the shoe pinches"
‘The people in the country know best where the shoe pinches. I look forward to good advice and recommendations from the Citizens‘ Assembly,’ said Minister Karianne Tung at the launch of the mini-public.
The Citizens' Assembly website also explains its benefits: “By inviting people to a Citizens” Assembly, we want to stimulate new voices to discuss difficult societal challenges. Traditionally, public discourse in Norway has often been characterised by special interests. We don't have such a strong tradition of inviting citizens' voices to contribute to the development of concrete policies.’
The mini-public opened up this possibility. One of the strengths of the Citizens' Assembly is that it looks at an issue from the citizen's perspective and can therefore put forward proposals and solutions that are not so easy for politicians to recognise.
Discussion with experts
Citizens' Assembly participants were given the opportunity to listen to experts, discuss with them and find out more about the topic. They could discuss with other citizens and deliberate on conflicting objectives.
The 25 Citizens' Assembly's recommendations will be incorporated into the forthcoming White Paper on the Sustainable Development Goals.
‘Showing the world the way"
SoCentral and We Do Democracy had been commissioned to set up a Citizens' Assembly Secretariat that works independently of the government. The random selection of assembly participants was organised by Analyse & Tal
‘We have been working for a long time to strengthen Nordic cooperation to promote deliberative democracy in the Nordic region. In Denmark, we have conducted 20 nationwide, regional and municipal citizens‘ assemblies, (...) and we are pleased that together with SoCentral and Analyse & Tal we can contribute our knowledge to Norway's first citizens’ assembly. Our shared hope is that the Norwegian Citizens‘ Assembly will lead the way for the rest of the Nordic region and the world,’ says Zakia Elvang, co-founder of We Do Democracy.
Expert advisory board
The Citizens' Assembly Secretariat was responsible for the technical and practical implementation of the process. The secretariat was supported by an international advisory board of experts. 2.7 million Norwegian kroner were available for the implementation of the mini-public.
‘The Norwegian government has created the framework for an ambitious Citizens‘ Assembly on Climate Change, which is committed to the OECD principles for the implementation of Citizens’ Assemblies. Norway has (...) established a strong consultative mandate around the parliament, which commits the government to receive and act on citizens' recommendations. It will be exciting to follow this,‘ said Lars Tønder, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen and member of the expert advisory board for the Norwegian Climate Citizens’ Assembly.
13th national climate assembly
The mini-public met in three digital and two face-to-face meetings. The first digital meeting took place on 30 October 2024. The last meeting was held on 21 January 2025. The proposals developed by the Citizens' Assembly were presented to the Minister for Digitalisation and Public Administration on 4 February 2025.
The Climate Citizens‘ Assembly in Norway was the 13th national mini-public on climate protection. Similar citizens' assemblies have already been held in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Another climate assembly is currently runnung in the Netherlands.