Journalists discuss global energy transition reporting at CLEW conference

Against the backdrop of the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, Clean Energy Wire invited journalists, journalism and media networks, communication scientists, policymakers and journalism funders to discuss what global energy transition reporting should look like and how to make it happen.

The work of journalists was extremely important in helping people understand “what climate change is about, what the solutions might be, and what the political actors are doing,” German state secretary Jochen Flasbarth told participants in a video message.

The complexity of the topic of climate protection was one of the main challenges that journalists faced, with its various scientific, economic and social layers. While natural disasters like extreme weather events often catch the attention of the media, it is difficult to understand which events are climate change-driven.

With an abundance of information available on a variety of platforms, and a lack of trust in the media, one of the main tasks that journalists have is to qualify existing data, tell fact from fiction, and present the relevant news to the world. “Your work is needed now more than ever,” said Flasbarth.