Reporting the Climate Crisis- A Handbook for Caribbean Journalists
There is empirical evidence that rising sea levels, changing precipitation patterns and more frequent and intense extreme weather events are effects of climate change which increasingly undermine the livelihoods of people in Caribbean Small Island Development States (SIDS).
This direct impact of climate change on our daily lives underscores the urgency to mobilise people in the Caribbean to intensify climate action. Against this background, the Caribbean media sector plays a vital role in bringing the essential conversation on climate change to the attention of the Caribbean public, while providing reliable evidence and informing on concrete areas of individual and collective action.
More than ever, it is the responsibility of journalists to make sure that findings which emanate from the science community gain traction in the broader public and that climate change gets the coverage it deserves. Moreover, accurate reporting on climate action is also vital for ensuring accountability of governments and private companies. Besides being a major source of trusted information, high quality media coverage is also essential to convey messages on adaptation plans to key audiences, especially to marginalized groups, to ensure nobody is left behind.
What is the scientific consensus on climate change? What are actual effects of climate change in Caribbean SIDS? And what are the main implications when covering climate change in news stories?
These are some of the major questions broached by this Handbook on Climate Change for the Caribbean, jointly published by the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean and the Association of Caribbean Media Workers, as outcome of a series of workshops which took place across the Caribbean in 2019. Please read the publication here REPORTING THE CLIMATE CRISIS - A handbook for Caribbean Journalists_flattened
The purpose of this publication is to improve the quality and quantity of climate change coverage across the Caribbean. With this handbook, we hope to equip journalists with the necessary information on climate change in the sub-region and propose possible strategies to convey the magnitude of the problem based on the needs of the Caribbean audience.
