Presentation made by science writer Nalaka Gunawardene to Panos South Asia Climate Change Media Fellows at a regional workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 23 to 25 April 2013. This is part of a Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) project for enhancing climate change awareness and understanding among journalists in South Asia. The project, which is currently in its second phase, has already produced several quality outputs across the region on Climate change–related issues. Details at http://www.panossouthasia.org/Left_read.asp?leftStoryId=224&leftSectionId=3

1. Communicating
Climate Change
in a Distracted
World:
DO YOU HEAR ME?
Panos Climate Fellows Workshop,
Kathmandu: 23-24 April 2013
By Nalaka Gunawardene

2. Coming Up…
 Why Communicating Climate Change [C3]
matters
 Where & how does media fit in?
 What do ordinary people already know?
 How can media engage public & policymakers on
CC?
 Barriers: Perceptions, Priorities, Politics [P3]
 Challenges to telling good stories
 Big Story…or Big Distraction from real stories?
Communicating Climate Change

3. Where I come from…
 Trained as science writer
 Worked in newspapers, radio & TV
 News, features, interviews, op-ed
 Researching, presenting, producing
 Co-founded Television for Education, 1996
TVE Asia Pacific, www.tveap.org
 Producing editorially independent video &
web content on development issues
 Covering climate change from 1988…
Communicating Climate Change

4. School children’s demo: Malé, The Maldives: 18 Nov

5. Public demo: Malé, The Maldives, 18 Nov 1989

6. Two Trail-Blazers who inspired me…
Tarzie Vittachi (1921 – 1993) Robert P Lamb (1952 – 2012)
BBC, Earthscan, IUCN, UNEP,
TVE (UK), One Planet Pictures
(UK), dev.tv (Switzerland)
Ceylon Observer, The Asian,
South, Sunday Times (UK), BBC,
UNFPA, UNICEF, WorldPaper…

7. Information, Education and
Communication
on Climate Change
Media-based
public communication:
Print
Broadcast
Media websites

8. Communicate what, exactly?
 Endless bad news?
 All Doom & Gloom?
 Denial/dismissal?
 Sparks of hope?
 Cautious optimism?
 Actionable info?
 Near/far news?
 Big Picture/small picture?
Communicating Climate Change

9. Communicate How?
 Alarmist (Sky is falling)?
 Confusing audiences?
 Artificially ‘balanced’ (case for &
against CC?)
 Story telling?
 Agenda setting?
 Advocacy journalism?
OR GOOD JOURNALISM with:
Accuracy, Balance, Credibility +
Empathy
Communicating Climate Change

10. Climate reporting sans labels…
“Journalists don’t need to write ‘climate
change’ stories to influence decision-
makers and public opinion. They can
write business stories, health stories, on
economics and politics -- even sports
and entertainment stories -- and use
these regular forms of journalism to
introduce the concepts of climate
change. After all, almost every activity,
every policy and every choice we make
comes with a carbon cost or carbon
saving…”
Mike Shanahan
science writer;
Now with IIED
Communicating Climate Change

11. The REALLY Bigger Picture…
Data acquired by NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite over 9 days
in April 2012 and 13 days in October 2012 in 312 orbits.

12. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov

13. Explore Google Earth -- at Night!
 Google Earth has mapped
nighttime images
 NASA’s own images +
interactivity
 zooming in…
 …zooming out (within range)
 Linked to geo-locations map
 Google Earth at night:
http://tiny.cc/GMapN

14. Playground of the Asian Monsoon!
Taken by Electro-L, Russian weather satellite in one single shot, at a
resolution of 121million megapixels, 36,000 km above Earth, April 2012

15. Which angle to take?
“An area as diverse as the Himalayas
needs localised, 'toad's-eye' science if
it is to learn how to adapt to climate
change. The eagle-eye view needs to
be complemented by view from the
ground…"toad's-eye" science!
People were not sitting around
waiting for an agreement... Millions
are voting with their feet everyday at
the grassroots level, reacting with
civic science & traditional
knowledge.”
Dipak Gyawali
Water Engineer;
Former Water
Minister of Nepal

16. Tarzie Vittachisms 1
“Ordinary people live and
work in day-to-day ‘weather’.
Most can’t relate to long-term
‘climate’. It’s our job [as
journalists] to make those
links clear, simple and
accessible...”
Communicating Climate Change

17. Responses to climate crisis…
Communicating Climate Change

18. How do we handle it?

20. Crisis Fatigue?
 Global water scarcity
 Food shortages
 Energy crisis
 Increasing desertification
 Habitat & species loss
 Ozone layer depletion
 HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria
 Absolute Poverty
 Run-away CLIMATE CHANGE
Communicating Climate Change

21. 2030: human
numbers: 8b
The Perfect
Storm?
- Sir John Beddington,
UK Govt Chief
Scientific Adviser
May 2009
Communicating Climate Change

22. Communicating Climate Change

24. Where’s the Sense of Perspective?

25. Communicating Climate Change: C3
 Understanding the science
 Keeping up with evolving science
 Grasping complexities, uncertainties
 Looking for what’s: New, Interesting & True (NIT)
 Sense of proportion & balance
 Localising stories without losing global context
 Mix of mitigation & adaptation topics
 Avoiding myths, misconceptions & alarmism
Communicating Climate Change

26. Communicating Climate Change

27. How do we tell this Big Story?
How can we get heard – and heeded?

28. Robert Lambisms 1
 There is no substitute to
good story telling. (You can’t
‘dress up’ a bad story with
gimmicks.)
 Focus, focus, focus!
 Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Communicating Climate Change

29. My own Triple-S Formula…
 Informed by Good Science (but
not immersed in it!)
 Tell authentic, compelling
journalistic Stories
 in Simple (but not simplistic)
ways (using accessible text,
images, infographics, audio,
video, interactive media…)
Communicating Climate Change

30. Connecting the dots…
“It's human nature to take
time to connect the dots. I
know that. But I also know
there can be a day of
reckoning when you wish
you had connected the dots
more quickly."
- Al Gore, in An
Inconvenient Truth

31. Connect Dots…with caution!
 Integral part of story telling
 Dots not always self-evident
 Beware: Haste makes waste!
 Sometimes, we gotta create new
‘dots’ on our own
 CC is a story in motion: some
dots disappear, new ones appear
 Keeping up not easy!
Communicating Climate Change

32. C3 vs. P3: Key Barriers…
 Perceptions: Everybody grasps
part of jigsaw
 Priorities: now & here vs. next
generational thinking
 Politics: blame game, you-go-
first approach to emissions
reductions
 Science alone can’t overcome
these! Nuance needed…
Communicating Climate Change

34. Communicating Climate Change
What do people alreadyWhat do people already
think or know?think or know?

35. Climate Change in the Indian Mind
 Yale Project on CC Communication
& GlobeScan, Canada
 Nation-wide survey of 4,031
Indians, during Nov-Dec 2011
 Probed current CC awareness,
beliefs, attitudes, policy support
and behaviour
 Collated public observations on
changes in local weather & climate
+ self-reported vulnerability to
extreme weather
Communicating Climate Change
Full Report at:
http://tiny.cc/CCiIM

36. Climate Change in the Indian Mind

37. Climate Change in the Indian Mind

38. Climate Change in the Indian Mind
Most trusted sources of info on CC:
 Scientists: 73%
 News media: 69%
 Environmental organisations: 68%
 Own family & friends: 67%
 Govt & religious entities trusted by
about half of all respondents
Communicating Climate Change
Full Report at:
http://tiny.cc/CCiIM

39. Public Perceptions on
Climate Change in Sri Lanka 2010
 1,000 people aged 18+ from all over Sri
Lanka, surveyed March-April 2010
 Part of Sri Lanka National Climate
Change Adaptation Strategy
preparation process (2010-11)
 Used 3-stage Random Sample method
 Opinions, not a test of knowledge
 Covered climate awareness, info
sources/needs, weather observations
Communicating Climate Change
Full Report at:
http://tiny.cc/PPSL

40. LK: Top climate impacts feared…

41. LK: Info sources on current issues..
70%
74%
94%
9%
13%
13%
52%
7%
27%
Newspapers and magazines
Radio
TV
Internet
Mobile phone/SMS alerts
Public exhibitions, seminars,etc
Friends, neighbors, colleagues
Educational institutions
Outdoor billboards, banners, etc

42. LK: Which info sources do you trust?
33%
42%
88%
51%
9%
4%
2%
3%
1%
Newspapers and magazines
Radio
TV
Internet
Mobile phone/SMS alerts
Public exhibitions, seminars,etc
Friends, neighbors, colleagues
Educational institutions
Outdoor billboards, banners, etc
Of those who identified a particular source type as a main source of info for
current affairs, how many % described it as a source they trust/believe the
most

43. LK: What prevents you from taking more
personal action on Climate Change?
Promoted response (multiple
choices allowed)
Urban
(%)
Rural
(%)
Total
Sample
(%)
I don’t have enough technical
Information
77 84 83
I don’t have enough time! 65 61 62
I find some changes too costly
–
I can’t afford it right now
67 70 70
Some actions not practicable in
my area/line of work
72 69 70
I never thought I could make a
difference!
6 10 9
Communicating Climate Change

44. CC info: Supply and/or Demand?
 ‘Supply’: providing authentic,
relevant and timely
information to all who need
it, in languages and formats
they can use
 ‘demand’: inspiring people to
look for specific knowledge &
skills to make themselves
more climate resilient
Communicating Climate Change

45. Communicating Climate Change

46. Beware of language…
 Anthropogenic
 Solar radiation
 Precipitation
 Atmospheric disturbance
 Greenhouse gases
 ppm (parts per million)

 Human-made
 Sun’s rays
 Rain, sleet, snow, hail
 Storm
 Planet-warming gases
 ???

Technocratic term/jargon Simpler way…
Communicating Climate Change

47. Who IS a climate expert?

49. Experts can make mistakes, too!
April 2006: "Enjoy life while you
can. Because if you're lucky it's
going to be 20 years before it
hits the fan."
April 2012: it is still happening,
but not as quickly once feared…
the effect of the oceans was not
well enough understood to be
certain of warming scenarios
Communicating Climate Change
James Lovelock,
independent scientist;
originator, Gaia theory
www.jameslovelock.org

50. Look and Listen!
“One doesn’t have to depend on a
glaciologist to report basic facts such
as these, which are part of everyone’s
lived experience. Journalists, if truth
be told, do not use their eyes and ears
sufficiently to pick up such
commonplace corroboration of global
phenomena…”
- Darryl D’Monte, environmental
journalist; Ed. Asia Media Report 2011
Communicating Climate Change

51. Asia Media Report 2011
 Journalists looking at the state
of climate reporting across Asia
 Taking stock of progress,
challenges, gaps, etc.
 Turning the light on ourselves…
 Edited by Darryl D’Monte
 Free download from:
theasiamediaforum.wordpress
.com
Communicating Climate Change

52. BD: Challenges at top & bottom…
“Reporting climate change in
Bangladesh faces formidable challenges
as it is hard to reach those affected in
coastal regions. But the more
important challenge is to put the story
in a proper perspective. Influential
people try to withhold information as
they believe reporting on their failure
will irk those higher in the
administration…”
- Mostafa Kamal Majumder, editor,
The New Nation, Bangladesh
Quoted in Asia
Media Report
2011, chapter on
Bangladesh by
Syful Islam
Communicating Climate Change

53. PK: Factors inhibiting CC coverage
 Editors & publishers not interested
 Too much event reporting (what), too
little process reporting (how & why)
 Media obsessed with: unravelling
conspiracy theories; implicating
govts/politicians for everything; blaming
West and/or India for most problems
 Some journalists see ‘natural disasters’
as ‘divine phenomena’ = God’s wrath
Zofeen T.
Ebrahim
writing on
Pakistan in
Asia Media
Report 2011
Communicating Climate Change

54. The Art of CC Communication
Environmentalists & scientists have
failed to build sufficient urgency for
action. We need new communication
approaches. Some basic tips:
1. Tell more unique, local stories.
2. Focus on audience, not argument
3. Use emotion and narrative.
4. Be sensitive to North-South
disparities.
Full text: http://tiny.cc/MSanjO
Dr M Sanjayan,
Lead Scientist, Nature
Conservancy, USA;
CBS News contributor
@msanjayan
Communicating Climate Change

55. Why so sad, mate?
“Environmental journalists often feel
married to the tragic narrative.
Pollution, extinction, invasion: The
stories are endless, and endlessly the
same. Our editors see the pattern and
bury us in the back pages; our readers
see it and abandon us on the subway
or in the dentist’s office.”
- Michelle Nijhuis, science journalist
in Colorado
Full text:
http://tiny.cc/
MNTragic
Communicating Climate Change

56. What can communicators do?
 Keep up with fast-evolving science
 Understand technical & political issues
 Communicate reliable, latest info
 Add human faces to the global crisis
 Localise climate impacts for audiences
 Look for smart, pragmatic solutions
 Prepare people to live in a warmer world
 Mind our own carbon footprints!
Communicating Climate Change

57. Where do YOU fit in?

58. SUMMARY: Balances to keep…
 Micro-Macro
 Today & Tomorrow
 Science & Society
 Media needs vs. public interest
 Sense of urgency vs. alarmism
 Good headlines vs. uncertainties
 Staying with long-term stories vs.
advancing in media career
 ????
Communicating Climate Change

59. Robert Lambisms 2
 To reach mass audiences, use
popular media & formats:
tabloid newspapers, reality TV,
whatever it takes…
 Sustainability is a bitter pill.
Sugar-coating is the only way to
get it across!
Communicating Climate Change

60. Tarzie Vittachisms 2
“EVERYTHING IS ABOUT
SOMETHING ELSE..”
- personal motto, displayed
on Tarzie Vittachi’s door at
UNICEF HQ where he was
Dep. Exec Director (1980-88)
Communicating Climate Change

61. What to do with born sceptics?

62. Twitter: @NalakaG
‘When Worlds Collide’ Sunday column:
http://collidecolumn.wordpress.com
www.tveap.org
Images used in good faith.
All quotes attributed or personally gathered.
Nalakagunawardene.com