Climate on the media stage

 

The climate crisis also manifests itself as a communications crisis. And as we enter a new political cycle there is a real fear that action here in Ireland will slow down. As my former colleague John Gormley wryly observed at a conference yesterday politicians of every hue are saying to us “We’re all green now.” As it happens, I remember the late Taoiseach Charlie Haughey saying to me over thirty years ago “I’m a bit of a green myself, as he waxed lyrical about providing a whale sanctuary off the Irish coast.

 

The conference was “Climate Action and a New Political Cycle: media's role in a time of change” and took place in Virgin TV’s Ballymount studios near the Red Cow Interchange. The event was held by Coimisiún na Meán as part of teh Sustainable Media Ireland initiative and reflects their role in developing and regulating a thriving, diverse, creative, safe and trusted media landscape. One way of doing that is to tease out the challenging issues that the media must communicate. It was a wet January day, but I took to the bike and passed a lot of stalled car traffic on my way out there, though I did end up with saturated shoes.

 

Mary Robinson, our former president gave a keynote, and she was wonderful. She spoke about the challenges for democracy in an age of disinformation, the importance of the European Union’s Digital Service Act, and her new role as a ‘Guardian of the Planetary Boundaries’. That last title is brilliant and refers to her new role with a spin-off from the Potsdam Institute for climate research who have done excellent work on this topic.

I also spoke, on a panel with Caroline O'Doherty Environment correspondent with the Irish Independent; Shannen Healy, a content creator who you can find as @_greengal on TikTok and Instagram, and Dr. Paul Dean, from University College Cork. The audience was drawn from media outlets across Ireland. Shannen spoke knowledgeable about communicating climate in bite-sized chunks that make a difference in our everyday lives. Her short reel on how to bleed a radiator has eleven million views, so she must be doing something right! She also spoke about the problems of fast fashion, and communicating with Generation Rent. She wore a lovely top that she had rented for the day, which showed us all that there are alternatives to buying new stuff for a special occasion. Caroline spoke of the algorithmic push-back against climate stories, which can require editorial intervention to ensure they get the prominence they deserve. Paul spoke described greenhouse gas emissions as pollutant, which allows us more readily to understand their impact. Disclaimer: Paul undertook some excellent work on date centres that I commissioned in my time as a Member of the European Parliament.

 

My contribution singled out the good works undertaken by journalists like Caroline, but also TheJournal's monthly 'Temperature Check' and other outlets who focus on climate work. I spoke about the importance of getting climate off the Environment page and into every section of news. The good work undertaken by my local football team Bohemians deserves more coverage, but any piece about air travel should mention climate. I expressed my concern about the Business Post fast becoming a mouthpiece for Ryanair and Dublin Airport’s expansion plans. 

 

Shifting the Overton window on climate is crucial, and I spoke about how discussions of de-growth economics strike fear into the eyes of economics commentators, but perhaps a discussion of ‘sufficiency’ can get more traction. I also made a plea for Europe to figure more in our discussions and commentary as most climate legislation kicks off in Brussels. All in all it was a good discussion, and Mary Robinson’s remarks were reported, which may serve to keep climate action in the news, a good result!