Climate and food from a global perspective
On 17 January 2026, a Global Citizens' Assembly on the future of the global food system began its work. 105 people from around the world are discussing the future of food against the backdrop of climate change. At the end of the process organised by the Coalition for a Global Citizens' Assembly, recommendations for action will be formulated.
The question to be answered by the Citizens' Assembly is: ‘What changes, if any, should we make to how we grow, share, and eat food, so that everyone has enough to nourish themselves, while tackling the causes and impacts of climate change?’
Diverse composition
Unlike conventional international political processes, which are dominated by state actors and experts, the Global Civic Assembly recruited its members by random selection in order to achieve a diverse composition in terms of gender, age, education and other important characteristics.
In September 2025, the random selection took place to determine the locations from which the participants in the Civic Assembly would come. Using an algorithm, points were selected on the world map, weighted according to regional population size and adjusted so that regions threatened by climate change were slightly overrepresented.
105 members selected
Local partner organisations helped to find potential participants from these points. From this group of people, the 105 members of the Civic Assembly were selected at the beginning of January 2026. They will be supported by local partners during the assembly process.
The members of the mini-public will deliberate from 17 January to 14 March 2026 in 14 three-hour online sessions. Participants will meet in time zone-based working groups, which will be professionally moderated.
Consideration of dilemmas
The Citizens' Assembly members will consider important dilemmas related to global food systems and climate change. Based on careful consideration of the information conveyed in the assembly and on the basis of discussions among themselves, they will develop recommendations for action on the topic.
The Global Civic Assembly is part of a broader ecosystem that also includes self-organised community assemblies, which enable broader political engagement at the local level.
Combining two formats
‘The combination of both formats is what makes the Global Citizens' Assembly so special: one format creates a global picture from many local images, while the other addresses global issues directly with a snapshot of the world's population,’ according to the Citizens' Assembly website.
The recommendations of the Civic Assembly and the results of the local assemblies are intended to ‘send a clear signal to people and institutions at all levels to take the decisions and actions necessary to maintain a healthy planet and feed all the people who live on it.’
Alliance for global citizen participation
The Global Citizens' Assembly on Climate Change and Food is organised by the Coalition for a Global Citizens' Assembly. The coalition is a diverse alliance of governments, organisations and civil society actors committed to giving citizens a permanent voice in global decision-making processes.
The Citizens' Assembly builds on the momentum of previous global citizens' assemblies, including pilot projects at climate conferences and the broader movement for permanent global civic engagement. The first global climate citizens' assembly had already taken place in 2021.
Important innovation in global governance
Proponents see such random assemblies as an important innovation in global governance, expanding participation beyond traditional diplomatic circles and creating a more inclusive approach to solving shared crises such as climate change.
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