In December 2015, the global community adopted the Paris Climate Agreement. The Agreement sets global climate protection goals and obliges states to regularly prepare national climate plans (NDCs) to achieve the common goals.
Policy makers and other stakeholders worldwide are now scrambling to prepare for the implementation of both the agreement and the NDCs. The media play a crucial role in this process as they navigate and mediate between the international climate talks, the underlying science and the public perception. Nevertheless, reporting on climate change is challenging. Journalists, like the general public, often wrestle with the complex scientific footing, the politics and the economics of climate change and its solutions.
The Climate Change Summer School for Journalists addressed this very challenge with the primary aim of improving media coverage around the implementation of the Paris Agreement. 17 journalists from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean participated in the 10-day training course which covered the following topics:
- The science of climate change: causes and impacts
- Solutions and the context of climate policies
- International climate diplomacy
- NDCs and their implementation
The Summer School was organized around the high-level international meeting “Petersberg Climate Dialogue" (Berlin, 22/23 May 2017) offering participants the opportunity to attend the event as accredited press as well as the chance to meet and interview climate experts and Ministers during the Dialogue proceedings .
The project is funded by the Federal Foreign Office.
Articles and documentaries of journalists involved:
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Alerta roja para el cambio climático: científicos advierten que es "una carrera contra el tiempo" (ámbito.com, 16 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): COP23 Presidency (The Fiji Times, 17 May 2017)
- Denny Parsaulian Sinaga (Indonesia): 2001-2010 Dekade Iklim Terburuk Dunia (Media Indonesia, 17 May 2017)
- Michelle Soto (Costa Rica): Concentración de dióxido de carbono en la atmósfera rompe récord (La Nación, 17 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Race Agains Time (The Fiji Times, 18 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Paradoja del cambio climático: Sudamérica hizo las cosas bien, pero le puede ir mal (ámbito.com, 18 May 2017)
- Michelle Soto (Costa Rica): Desastres relativos al clima exacerban conflictos étnicos ya existentes (La Nación, 18 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Alemania renovable: cómo un gasoducto se convirtió en un centro tecno (ámbito.com, 19 May 2017)
- Nidhi Sharma (India): One fourth of armed conflicts in ethnically divided countries coincide with climatic problems: Study (The Economic Times, 20 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): En el este de Alemania, ya sin Guerra Fría, se libra la batalla de las energías renovables (ámbito.com, 21 May 2017)
- Samsur Rahman (Bangladesh): The world's future energy will be solar (Prothom Alo, 21 May 2017)
- Lebo Tshangela (South Africa): Trump's utterances on Paris Agreement worries Germany (SABC News, 22 May 2017)
- Nidhi Sharma (India): Petersburg Climate Dialogue begins with China taking centrestage (The Economic Times, 22 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Con cautela y un llamado a la unidad, arrancó minicumbre del clima en Berlín (ámbito.com, 22 May 2017)
- Nidhi Sharma (India): Growth and climate protection can go hand-in-hand: OECD report (The Economic Times, 22 May 2017)
- Michelle Soto (Costa Rica): VIII Diálogo Climático de Petersberg: países abogan por mantenerse unidos e impulsar el Acuerdo de París (La Nación, 22 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Ride a Bicycle, Save the Planet (The Fiji Times, 22 May 2017)
- Bruno Dias Calixto (Brazil): Países tentam evitar efeito dominó caso Trump saia do Acordo de Paris (Época, 22 May 2017)
- Bruno Dias Calixto (Brazil): A aposta da Alemanha em energia solar (Época, 13 June 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Motor vehicle numbers up, Fiji misguided — report (The Fiji Times, 22 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): World urged to unite if US leaves (The Fiji Times, 22 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Climate change – a threat to mankind (The Fiji Times, 12 June 2017)
- Zofeen Ebrahim (Pakistan): World to Cut Emissions With or Without Trump (IPS News, 22 May 2017)
- KD Suarez (Philippines): Germany, China urge U.S. to stick to Paris climate pact (Rappler, 22 May 2017)
- KD Suarez (Philippines): Economic growth, climate policies can go together – OECD report (Rappler, 22 May 2017)
- KD Suarez (Philippines): Germany, Fiji push for continued cooperation in climate talks (Rappler, 23 May 2017)
- Nidhi Sharma (India): Developed countries must deliver on pre-2020 promises on climate change: India (The Economic Times, 23 May 2017)
- KD Suarez (Philippines): Inclusivity to guide Fiji's presidency in COP23 climate talks (Rappler, 23 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Economías pueden crecer un 3% más si luchan contra el cambio climático, según OCDE (ámbito.com, 23 May 2017)
- Lebo Tshangela (South Africa): Climate change part of SA’s govt program: Molewa (SABC News, 23 May 2017)
- Bruno Dias Calixto (Brazil): O aquecimento global pode levar países à guerra? (Época, 23 May 2017)
- Bruno Dias Calixto (Brazil): Infraestrutura verde pode fazer o mundo economizar US$ 1 trilhão por ano, diz OCDE (Época, 23 May 2017)
- Michelle Soto (Costa Rica): VIII Diálogo Climático de Petersberg: Posible salida de EE. UU. del Acuerdo de París acapara atención en cierre de reunión climática en Alemania (La Nación, 23 May 2017)
- Michelle Soto (Costa Rica): Lucha contra cambio climático favorecería crecimiento económico de los países (La Nación, 23 May 2017)
- Etant Dupain (Haiti): Nesesite Pou yon diplomasi klimatik dinamik an Ayiti (Le Nouvelliste, 24 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Co-operation remains fundamental to climate risks (The Fiji Times, 24 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): COP23 Process (The Fiji Times, 24 May 2017)
- Carlos Pagura (Argentina): Bergman: "Para la Argentina, lo que sirve ahora es diversificar la matriz energética" (ámbito.com, 24 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Fiji plans a pre-COP (The Fiji Times, 25 May 2017)
- Fang Wang (China): 中国走向全球气候治理的“舞台中心” (FT Chinese, 25 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): We will bring the Fijian spirit to Bonn, says PM (The Fiji Times, 25 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Merkel: Paradises threatened (The Fiji Times, 25 May 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Report highlights quality of growth (The Fiji Times, 25 May 2017) Ayoola Kassim (Nigeria): Earth File: Focus on Challenges Facing The Realisation Of The Paris Agreement, Pt. 1 (Channels Television, 03 June 2017)
- Ayoola Kassim (Nigeria): Earth File: Focus on Challenges Facing The Realisation Of The Paris Agreement, Pt. 2 (Channels Television, 03 June 2017)
- Ayoola Kassim (Nigeria): Earth File: Focus on Challenges Facing The Realisation Of The Paris Agreement, Pt. 3 (Channels Television, 03 June 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Fragile Islands (The Fiji Times, 09 June 2017)
- Avinesh Gopal (Fiji): Climate change — a threat to mankind (The Fiji Times, 12 June 2017)