Weather presenters are among the most trusted communicators on climate change. The weather and climate information they share effectively reach the people, and can influence the public mindset on climate action. Weather presenters are also at the frontline of weather communication when climate disasters occur. (see Maibach, E. 2016. TV Meteorologists as Local Climate Change Educators. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science) Weather presenters work on the interface of media and science. This puts them in a unique position. It is not always as easy as it looks to talk about climate science and the action that is needed towards a sustainable future, when you are not supported by an organization or network, especially when skeptical and denial reactions arise.
Therefore, Climate without Borders launches a unique global network of weather presenters, which will equip and empower weather presenters to include information about climate change in their communication, with the aim of avoiding direct climate disaster victims through improving public understanding of climate science and the importance of an urgent global and local sustainable policy, and its effects on the environment.
Therefore Climate without Borders will:
- Create a weather & climate portal digital platform to exchange information on weather, extreme events, climate change and action. Through this portal up-to-date and state-of-the-art information will reach those who need it to raise awareness.
- Set up a portfolio with a wide variety of local and national educational, cultural and art projects in cooperation with schools, institutions, governments and the private sector. All weather presenters of the network will have access to, and will be the privileged partners in setting this up on a local or national scale.
- Organize regional workshops and boot camps, and webinars to engage more weather presenters into raising climate awareness, to make a transition to a sustainable, low-carbon society.
The message “Climate Change is real” is clear. At this moment far more people are killed by climate disasters and epidemics than by terrorism, while the budgets put into defence are much higher than the investments needed to tackle climate change. According to the WHO Climate Change is expected to cause approximately 250.000 additional deaths a year, between 2030 and 2050, due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
Many researches point out that climate communication is more than ‘just communicating the facts’, it is about ‘how people feel about the changing world around them’, instead of creating fear with projecting an apocalyptic world (often done in media). The uniqueness of Climate without Borders lies within the fact that we will work with weather presenters, who are trusted. A change of habits, needed from each and every one to tackle climate change, can only be asked by people with whom the public has a relation of trust.
Recently we have seen a shift in perception of the climate problem from ‘climate is only about the weather’ towards ‘climate is what you eat, where you work, how you travel, what you study, where you live…’. Finding answers is a challenge, and the public is overloaded with scientific information, fake news and alternative facts. It makes sense for them to turn to their trusted weather presenters to explain to them all the changes they see and all the policy agreements that are being made. We will link our communication with:
The Paris Agreement is a historical and globally supported agreement that creates the rulebook for a transition to a sustainable future. Weather presenters are known and trusted in their country. In many countries they are already invited by the public and schools, or by journalists, companies and governments to give their view on the changing weather and its impacts. According to Article #12 of the Paris Agreement all Parties shall take action in climate education, training, and public awareness. Climate without Borders members are active in all kinds of media, using the appropriate language and style.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. The group of weather presenters (see below) includes many members from developing countries. This is a very important trump card for Climate without Borders to integrate some of these SDGs, e.g. Goal #12 ‘To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’, Goal #13 ‘To take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, and Goal #17 ‘To strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’.
The challenge for weather presenters is to learn how to zoom out in time, and in scale. Climate change does not stop at borders, and does not stop from one day to the other. By sharing information on a global scale, we will know through time, that we all share the same planet and atmosphere.
The gigabytes of data that is available on the internet is huge. But it is not because we know that information is available, that it also reaches those who need this information.
The basis of the Climate without Borders network is a (very active!) group created on WhatsApp, called ‘World Wide Weather (www)’ with more than 130 weather presenters from 110 countries (!) e.g. New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, India, Israel, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Uganda, Sweden, Spain, France, Poland, Russia, Qatar, Greece, France, Canada, USA, Argentina, Brazil, etc. This map shows all the countries represented in this group. This www-group was initiated just after the Conference of the Parties in Paris (COP21, dec 2015).
Weather presenters are among the most trusted communicators on climate change. The weather and climate information they share effectively reach the people, and can influence the public mindset on climate action. Weather presenters are also at the frontline of weather communication when climate disasters occur. (see Maibach, E. 2016. TV Meteorologists as Local Climate Change Educators. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science) Weather presenters work on the interface of media and science. This puts them in a unique position. It is not always as easy as it looks to talk about climate science and the action that is needed towards a sustainable future, when you are not supported by an organization or network, especially when skeptical and denial reactions arise.
Therefore, Climate without Borders launches a unique global network of weather presenters, which will equip and empower weather presenters to include information about climate change in their communication, with the aim of avoiding direct climate disaster victims through improving public understanding of climate science and the importance of an urgent global and local sustainable policy, and its effects on the environment.
Therefore Climate without Borders will:
- Create a weather & climate portal digital platform to exchange information on weather, extreme events, climate change and action. Through this portal up-to-date and state-of-the-art information will reach those who need it to raise awareness.
- Set up a portfolio with a wide variety of local and national educational, cultural and art projects in cooperation with schools, institutions, governments and the private sector. All weather presenters of the network will have access to, and will be the privileged partners in setting this up on a local or national scale.
- Organize regional workshops and boot camps, and webinars to engage more weather presenters into raising climate awareness, to make a transition to a sustainable, low-carbon society.
The message “Climate Change is real” is clear. At this moment far more people are killed by climate disasters and epidemics than by terrorism, while the budgets put into defence are much higher than the investments needed to tackle climate change. According to the WHO Climate Change is expected to cause approximately 250.000 additional deaths a year, between 2030 and 2050, due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
Many researches point out that climate communication is more than ‘just communicating the facts’, it is about ‘how people feel about the changing world around them’, instead of creating fear with projecting an apocalyptic world (often done in media). The uniqueness of Climate without Borders lies within the fact that we will work with weather presenters, who are trusted. A change of habits, needed from each and every one to tackle climate change, can only be asked by people with whom the public has a relation of trust.
Recently we have seen a shift in perception of the climate problem from ‘climate is only about the weather’ towards ‘climate is what you eat, where you work, how you travel, what you study, where you live…’. Finding answers is a challenge, and the public is overloaded with scientific information, fake news and alternative facts. It makes sense for them to turn to their trusted weather presenters to explain to them all the changes they see and all the policy agreements that are being made. We will link our communication with:
The Paris Agreement is a historical and globally supported agreement that creates the rulebook for a transition to a sustainable future. Weather presenters are known and trusted in their country. In many countries they are already invited by the public and schools, or by journalists, companies and governments to give their view on the changing weather and its impacts. According to Article #12 of the Paris Agreement all Parties shall take action in climate education, training, and public awareness. Climate without Borders members are active in all kinds of media, using the appropriate language and style.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. The group of weather presenters (see below) includes many members from developing countries. This is a very important trump card for Climate without Borders to integrate some of these SDGs, e.g. Goal #12 ‘To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’, Goal #13 ‘To take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, and Goal #17 ‘To strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’.
The challenge for weather presenters is to learn how to zoom out in time, and in scale. Climate change does not stop at borders, and does not stop from one day to the other. By sharing information on a global scale, we will know through time, that we all share the same planet and atmosphere.
The gigabytes of data that is available on the internet is huge. But it is not because we know that information is available, that it also reaches those who need this information.
The basis of the Climate without Borders network is a (very active!) group created on WhatsApp, called ‘World Wide Weather (www)’ with more than 130 weather presenters from 110 countries (!) e.g. New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, India, Israel, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Uganda, Sweden, Spain, France, Poland, Russia, Qatar, Greece, France, Canada, USA, Argentina, Brazil, etc. This map shows all the countries represented in this group. This www-group was initiated just after the Conference of the Parties in Paris (COP21, dec 2015).
- Indicates paper has been withdrawn from meeting
- Indicates an Award Winner