|
ROME—There is no moderately well-informed person who
does not believe that climate change is, if not the
gravest threat facing humanity, at least one of the top
two or three.
It is,
therefore, worth asking whether the performance of the
media in this regard rises to the challenge, and whether
they are accepting the mission to generate awareness of
the magnitude of the problem.
In
general, over the last three decades, the media have
dedicated significantly more space to environmental
issues, albeit clearly nowhere near enough. That which
has been achieved is, without doubt, attributable to the
members of the scientific community who, cast at the
beginning in the undesirable role of prophets of
calamity, were able to explain, convince and orient the
public—and the media, in particular.
But the
quantity of media attention currently dedicated to
environmental matters is largely determined by the
passivity of the media, which carry the various
rejections of global warming and the warnings of the
scientists, but usually don’t do much more, though there
are certainly certain praiseworthy exceptions. And while
this has instilled justified concern in certain sectors
of public opinion, it has not translated even minimally
into the massive shift in behavior necessary to turn
around a situation that is growing progressively more
dire.
In
effect, the Kyoto Protocol adopted in December 1997
formalizes the commitment to cut greenhouse-gas
emissions by 5 percent by 2012. However, these emissions
have only increased since that time. Moreover, there is
a consensus on the inadequacy of the targets set in the
Kyoto Protocol (still not ratified by the United States
and other countries), as well as of signing and
implementing other agreements with greater environmental
impact.
The goal
cannot be achieved without the application of firm and
constant pressure by informed and res-ponsible citizens
on governments and industry and without pushing for more
effective action by civil society. It is inconceivable
that the people can play this role without being
well-informed, oriented and stimulated by the media.
The
media’s approach to covering the environment should
include the following components:
§
Objective reporting of the dangers related to climate
change without falling into a kind of eco-terrorism;
§
Making
it clear that protecting the environment is not
incompatible with economic development, and that
sustainable development clearly benefits both;
§
Reporting on initiatives and proposals for strategies to
reduce emissions in developed countries; the
contribution of developing countries will consist of
adopting more sustainable strategies that do not affect
their continued economic growth, to which they have an
unalienable right. This is a fundamental issue and a
major point of contention because it requires that there
be different strategies for and treatment of
industrialized countries and developing,
nonindustrialized countries. The former, because of
their intensive and initially inefficient energy
consumption, are responsible for the current state of
environmental crisis and must significantly reduce their
emissions; the latter need to increase their energy
consumption in order to develop. For this to be
compatible with the objectives of Kyoto and instruments
adopted subsequently, the industrialized countries must
cooperate broadly with developing countries to help them
adopt clean and efficient technologies by providing
financial and technological support. This
differentiation of roles between the North and South is
fiercely resisted by powerful sectors of the
industrialized countries, which requires of the media an
effort at clarification and persuasion;
§
Connecting environmental sustainability to the fight to
eradicate poverty and to eradicate hunger in the
world—the first and seventh, respectively, of the
Millennial Development Goals. The relation between the
two is profound and inextricable given that climate
change principally punishes the poor; and
§
In its
coverage, the media should highlight sound environmental
practices and, most important, bring about long-term
cultural and behavioral change. As Beijing University
professor Chai Sza Kiang says, “To talk about climate
change is to think about the next generations and be
capable of transforming this crisis into an
opportunity.”
Although
it is correct to recognize that, in the last decades,
the space dedicated to the environment has increased, it
is also right to expect the media to improve their
coverage by abandoning their attitude of merely passing
on information and beginning to work actively to shape
the opinion of the public and those in power such that
they comply with the objectives set by the international
community to address the problem of climate change.
Mario Lubetkin is director general of Inter Press
Service. |
