REPORT BY OFORIWA DARKO
24 journalists from nine African countries are currently participating in a study programme on Climate Change at the Danida Fellowship Centre in Denmark, to build their capacity in reporting on the global climate crisis.
The training opportunity which was made possible through Denmark’s local consulates in selected African countries, is one of Danida Fellowship Centre’s learning programmes which seeks to enhance Journalists’ role in contextualising climate change from an African perspective.
It is also to enable the Journalists find credible and new ways to tell the climate change story when reporting about the crisis before and during the UN climate change conference, COP27, which will be held soon in Egypt.
According to the Senior Communications Consultant at the Danida Fellowship Centre, Vibeke Quaade, the impact of climate change is global and it would take concerted efforts to help address it, hence Danida Fellowship Centre’s commitment to provide a tangible platform to train African Journalists to contribute to the strategies, policies and action plans on climate change in their respective countries through the art of storytelling.
“Climate Change entails critical issues and I believe the media has an indispensable role to serve and inform audiences better on the subject matter. A thorough understanding is crucial to ensure they produce accurate news and stories on these issues.”
The selected Journalists who are from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda have so far embarked on some field visits to climate Green Solution Agencies in Denmark, to learn about their operations which include Public-Private Partnerships to accelerate cutting edge green solutions in the country, national strategy towards Denmark’s green transition and the strong Danish commitment in international cooperation on green research and better coordination.
To reinforce their skills on technical reporting, the journalists were briefed on the UN 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the COP 27 negotiations, climate financing and the Danish Green Agenda.
Presentations were also made by renowned Climate Journalists in Denmark, representatives from the Danish Ministry for Climate Change and Energy, Centre for Global Climate Action, CARE Denmark, Danish Agriculture and Food and Council, Danish Meteorological Institute, among others.
All these reinforcements and capacity building for the beneficiaries are geared towards equipping them and preparing them well enough to report effectively and accurately at the upcoming COP 27.
In November 2022, the Government of Egypt will host the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27), with a view to building on previous successes and paving the way for future ambition to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.
Latest science shows that climate change is moving much faster than we are and is pushing ecosystems and communities to their limits. Many of the most challenged communities are in Africa, despite Africa contributing only 4% of global gas emissions. This gives rise to thoughts on what a successful COP27 will look like for the continent and how the climate crisis and the COP27 negotiations and its results will be reported back to the people of Africa.
