paris&cop21&journalist&workshop:&& … · 2018. 12. 5. · @climatenewsday/ ...

www.climatenewsnetwork.net @ClimateNewsDay

Paris COP21 Journalist Workshop: Understanding the COP Process

Day One – 1st December, 2015


The Latest Science & the Two Degree Target

Tim Radford, Climate News Network 10:15 – 11:00


Global Warming: Science for the reporter 1.  Some things are not in doubt. The physics. The climate history. The connecDon between carbon dioxide levels and

average global temperatures.

2.  The future is in doubt. It always is. There are uncertainDes about the machinery of climate, human response and the mechanisms that engineers call “feedback.

3.  But almost all scholarly, peer-‐reviewed publicaDon points in one direcDon: climate change is happening, humans are making it happen and very few humans will be beNer off

4.  Carbon dioxide levels for 10,000 years were lower than 300 ppm. Now they are above 400ppm.

5.  Average global temperatures have risen by at least 1°C because of human acDon

6.  What happens next is up to humans – and the planet’s own response. But the proposed 2°C limit will not be comfortable, and a 3°C rise will change and may threaten human civilisaDon.

7.  At almost every point, climate change represents a good story for the reporter. So make the most of it.


Following the Money Kieran Cooke, Climate News Network

11:00 – 11:45


Finance & Climate Change: The General Picture

Financiers are worried:

“The challenges currently posed by climate change pale in significance compared with what might come…While there is s@ll @me to act, the window of opportunity is finite and shrinking.” Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England

“If we collec@vely chicken out of this, we’ll all turn into chickens and we’ll be fried, grilled, toasted and roasted” ChrisOne Lagarde, Managing Director of the InternaOonal Monetary Fund (IMF)


Fossil fuel investments are dangerous to your health – and to your pocket

•  There is an increasing realisaDon that fossil fuels have to be leX in the ground

•  The result = ‘Stranded Assets’ and a

‘Carbon Bubble’


•  We are now seeing investors withdrawing from fossil fuels •  To date more than $2.6 trillion investment has been removed

“All investors must decide whether they are future takers or future makers.” HRH, The Prince of Wales

Fossil Fuel Divestment

Source: Ecowatch


A worldwide divestment campaign: Success?

“We are quite convinced that if he [John D Rockefeller] were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and inves@ng in clean, renewable energy.” Stephen Heintz, President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Investment Funds

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Faith Groups

UniversiOes

CelebriOes

Even fossil fuel companies are

withdrawing funds from fossil fuels.

NGOs


But fossil fuel companies are sOll very strong

•  Nearly 1,500 oil and gas firms listed on stock exchanges around the world are worth a combined $4.65 trillion.

•  ExxonMobil – worth $425 billion – is the second largest company in the world aXer Apple.

•  The 275 listed coal firms are worth $233 billion.

•  Many of these companies are richer – in terms of assets and revenues – than several countries.

•  And fossil fuels are sDll supported by billions in subsidies


Finance and the COP

The cash flow: “Whether Paris succeeds or not will depend on what we have as part of the core agreement on finance.” Nozipho Mxakato-‐Diseko, Spokesperson for Developing Countries

In Copenhagen in 2009 wealthier naDons agreed to ‘mobilize’ $100bn a year by 2020 to poorer countries to miDgate/adapt.

Which countries should contribute? Should finance be state or private? Wealthier countries say old divisions of developed/developing no longer apply.

Many poorer countries say climate change and inequality/poverty reducDon must be tackled as one. “The challenges of overcoming poverty and climate change are interlinked. If we fail on one – we fail on the other.” Nicolas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research InsOtute on Climate Change & The Environment (LSE)


The Big Issues


Confusing Language & some of the main finance negoOaOng points

‘Loss and damage’

• A mechanism through which funds would be transferred to the most vulnerable countries in response to climate related disasters and to help them adapt.

‘Common but differenOated responsibility & respecOve capabiliOes’ (CBDR & RC)

• Countries which have the most responsibility for climate change and with the most resources should be first to act on climate change and make funds and technical help available to those with less responsibility and resources.

Carbon trading

• Seen by some as central to achieving progress on baNling climate change but to others it’s a market based system which has failed -‐ in Europe in parDcular -‐ making groups of traders wealthy but doing liNle to cut polluDon.


Some background/arOcles of interest

hNp://climatenewsnetwork.net/royal-‐call-‐for-‐switch-‐to-‐low-‐carbon-‐investment/

hNp://climatenewsnetwork.net/cash-‐is-‐key-‐to-‐paris-‐climate-‐talks-‐success/

hNp://climatenewsnetwork.net/investors-‐opt-‐out-‐of-‐fossil-‐fuels-‐as-‐climate-‐summit-‐nears/

hNp://climatenewsnetwork.net/debate-‐heats-‐up-‐on-‐risk-‐of-‐frozen-‐fossil-‐fuel-‐assets/

hNp://climatenewsnetwork.net/outlook-‐palls-‐for-‐fossil-‐fuel-‐investments/

UNFCCC finance guide (a general guide to the COP, with secDon on Climate Finance) hNp://bigpicture.unfccc.int


Looking For the Stories Paul Brown, Climate News Network

12:15 – 13:00


10 Top Tips for reporOng on “The Summit that will decide the future of the planet.”

1.   Keep an open mind 2.   Use all the resources available 3.   Where is the news intro, or best starOng point? 4.   Talk to your editor/news editor/boss 5.   Balance points of view 6.   IdenOfy and interview various experts 7.   Keep quesOons short and simple 8.   How to present the Story? 9.   Remember that you work for your readers/ viewers/ listeners -‐

keep them interested, inform them, entertain them. 10.  You can change the world.


NavigaOng the COP Maze Alex Kirby, Climate News Network

13:45 – 14:35


Why are we here?

•  To report what we know, not what we think •  Don't tell your readers everything you know, just the essenDals •  Find the people affected by climate change, and listen to them •  At a COP you can easily write several stories a day. Try to write just ONE story which tells

your readers what they need to know


Work as a team

•  You can't get everywhere or do everything. So work with a trusted colleague and share your results •  Be sure you can communicate easily and quickly with each other •  Many people want to use you. Don't let them •  Have a daily rouDne: cover key press conferences, check with your delegaDon, see what the NGOs are

saying


IdenOfy the people you need

•  Know who your key contacts are, and how to reach them 24/7 •  Know where to find your naDonal delegaDon: know their contact

details, and make sure they know yours •  Know the UNFCCC press team •  Know the journalists who know what's happening -‐ they may tell

you •  Don't sit in the press centre and wait for stories to come to you.

Go out and find them


Prepare, prepare, prepare

Know the basic scienDfic and economic language used at a COP. Read guides like: •  Climate Home:

hNp://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/11/10/un-‐climate-‐talks-‐and-‐the-‐paris-‐deal-‐a-‐bluffers-‐guide/

•  E3G: hNp://www.e3g.org/docs/E3G_COP21_Media_Guide.pdf •  Talk to your own country's scienDsts, negoDators, NGOs and ciDzens


Then prepare some more

•  Know the main sDcking points in the talks -‐ about money, Dming, updaDng, reporDng, loss and damage, legality

•  Find out what unexpected sDcking points you should expect too

Remember: •  The chances of agreement in Paris are beNer than they've been for years •  But will any agreement really be worthwhile? •  The UN "always succeeds -‐ it does not do failure" You must rely on your own judgement. You are as good as every other journalist reporOng from the COP


What will your last story from Paris say?

•  You will need to sum up the story very quickly when the COP ends •  Paris won't save the world. And it's not the last chance for a good climate deal. The answer is

probably somewhere between the two. •  So know what experts say are the essenDal parts of any agreement -‐ and compare them with what

the real agreement says The Climate News Network team will always have at least two people at the COP. If you need have a problem, tell us. We'll try to help!


Case Study: The Himalayas & the 3rd Pole Tim Radford & Kieran Cooke, Climate News Network

14:35 – 15:30


Overview •  Importance of water to the region:

•  River basins and populaDons •  Climate-‐related natural disasters

•  Climate change and its influence on temperature and precipitaDon

•  Himalayas’ glaciers: status and future •  Effects on river flow

•  10 major river systems •  210 million people in the mountains •  1.4 billion people downstream •  Many human ac@vi@es (especially agriculture) @med with

seasonal flows of water


A Disaster Prone Region

HKH region is disaster-‐prone and number is increasing

Flooding affects the most people and leads to largest economic losses


Key climate variables: temperature & rainfall

•  Himalayas warming at twice global average •  Rainfall is becoming more unpredictable (too much / too liNle water)

•  Most glaciers are retreaDng & losing mass (volume)

•  More glacial lakes forming (5071 in 2010 compared to 4600 in 1990)


Glacier Retreat •  Most glaciers are retreaDng in length and losing mass. •  However the Karakoram and north-‐western Himalaya remain

anomalies.


Future trends in rainfall & temperature and the impact on river flow

•  By 2050, increase of temperature of 1oC to 2.2oC across the region

•  By 2050, precipitaDon paNerns less certain – from -‐3.5% to +9.5%

•  Increase in precipitaDon expected for Ganges, Brahmaputra, Salween and Mekong will lead to increase in run-‐off

•  Upper Indus: less precipitaDon + more melDng = increase in run-‐off

•  Seasonality of peak flows will change


Vast Regional Changes

•  Temperatures are rising across the HKH & faster than global average (especially at higher alDtudes)

•  PrecipitaDon is becoming more unpredictable (seasons)

•  Most glaciers are retreaDng – ice is mel@ng faster than it can be replenished

•  Importance/impact of glacial melt depends on its contribuDon to river flow (v high for Indus, moderate for Ganges & Brahmaputra, low for Salween and Mekong)

•  Glaciers will retreat significantly by 2050 (but not enDrely disappear by 2035!)

•  Increasing river flow predicted for all basins unDl 2050

•  Changing seasonality of flow


‘Climate Change is difficult news to tell’ Joe Smith, The Open University

14:35 – 15:30

paris&cop21&journalist&workshop:&& … · 2018. 12. 5. · @climatenewsday/ ...

Documents