Democratic Innovations for Climate Transitions: The Role of Independent Expert Advisory Bodies

Over 140 countries have announced Net Zero targets. Across Europe and beyond, independent expert advisory bodies on climate change have been established to help meet these targets by providing rigorous non-politicised analysis to support policy creation, implementation and evaluation. Such bodies are expected to help improve policy credibility and legitimacy. However, their impact remains understudied. This paper seeks to address gaps in the research on the impact of independent expert advisory bodies. It presents findings from a mapping of European independent climate advisory bodies and several national case studies, which explore how internal factors, such as the make-up and remit of the bodies, and external factors, such as the political context in which the bodies operate, shape their impact on both climate action and broader democratic governance. This includes, among other, an empirical study of the UK Climate Change Committee's (CCC) impact on parliamentary debate, political discourse, policy, and legislation from 2019 to 2025. The paper also highlights how emerging democratic challenges such as misinformation, growing distrust in science, and rise in populism affect the expert advisory bodies and their impact, considering specifically their roles as knowledge brokers, watchdogs and policy entrepreneurs. The paper identifies policy takeaways on enhancing the impact of independent climate advisory bodies and in understanding the role that democratic innovations can play in strengthening governance for climate transitions.