How Media Is Creating A Climate For A Change
As reporters from across the world gather in London for the 6th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ), R. K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reflects on how the media has helped raise awareness on climate change over the past two years.
“The media has helped turn public opinion in favour of action on climate change,” says Pachauri. “And this attitude has seeped into the negotiations that began with the 2007 Bali meeting and continued into Poznan, Poland late last year,” he adds.
“How the media covers climate change over the next six months is likely to have a major impact on the global climate negotiations in Copenhagen at the end of this year,” says Pachauri.
David Dickson, director of SciDev.Net and member of the WCSJ’s steering committee, welcomes Pachauri’s comments. “As chair of the IPCC, Professor Pachauri has been at the forefront of international efforts to limit global warming and its impact. It is heartening to read his acknowledgement of the key role that the media has played in building support for these initiatives. His call to journalists to pay more attention to the scientific rationale for action — and not to focus solely on the politics involved — is welcome.”
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