How the Media is Creating a Climate for Change

In this SciDev.Net opinion piece, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Chair R. K. Pachauri calls on journalists to maintain focus on the scientific rationale for action in their coverage of climate change in light of the Copenhagen Climate Summit slated to be held in Denmark in December 2009. He cites the fact that the media has played a central role in spreading awareness on climate change and reviews IPCC efforts to interact with media on climate issues.

Since IPCC has intensified its media outreach, it has set up a website, developed a policy and media outreach strategy, and invited the press to briefings. As evidence of this effort, over 300 journalists and 50 television cameras were present at the February 2007 release in Paris, France, of the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report, "The Physical Science Basis". In India, the press increased national publication of climate change findings, which became the professional focus of a number of journalists and of the TV news. The media attention in India and other countries has led to an impact on public opinion and on policymakers - boosted by the awarding of the 2007 Nobel prize jointly to the IPCC and Al Gore, environmental campaigner - according to the author.

As stated here, "the media had already developed an appetite for climate change,” as evidenced by the fact that several national and international newspapers featured the IPCC's Fourth Assessment final synthesis report's findings on their front pages. "The media coverage helped to create a climate of positive intent for action at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), ...December 2007," including a turn in United States (US) public opinion in favour of action.

According to the author: "There is also every reason to believe that the way the media engages with this issue over the next six months will have a major impact on the outcome of the UNFCCC talks in Copenhagen later this year, when international climate negotiators will establish a new global climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. What provides hope... is the fact that many journalists have shown ...scholarship and a penchant for in-depth analysis in their coverage, providing objective and unbiased analyses of the IPCC's findings. But one concern is that the current logjam in negotiations is leading some sections of the media to focus on the debate's political aspects, concentrating on different countries' positions. This comes at the cost of coverage on the scientific rationale for action, which must remain the driver for negotiations. The road to Copenhagen must be based on awareness of the scientific basis for climate change - and this requires the media to remain actively, yet responsibly, engaged."