“IT IS UNEQUIVOCAL that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.”
The stark language in a recent landmark climate report set the tone for a world continuing to face a mammoth task of reducing emissions and preventing the worst-case scenarios of climate change becoming a reality.
The climate crisis is an issue facing every person across the world, and the science is clear that human influence has warmed the climate “at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2,000 years”.
The sixth assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlined that “deep reductions” in greenhouse gas emissions are crucial to prevent the planet from warming by more than 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
But reports, figures, predictions and warnings can cause a lot of fear and panic on a personal level.
People are told to reduce their carbon footprint, use less plastic, eat less meat, leave the car at home – but it can often feel futile in comparison to the action (or inaction) of larger countries and companies.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg recently criticised governments, saying: “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders: words, words that sound great but so far have led to no action, our hopes and dreams drowned in their empty words and promises.”
The Good Information Project’s next cycle focuses on the climate crisis. It aims to provide you with the information you need on the planet’s current situation and what needs to be done.
We want to give context to important climate stories and bring accurate, insightful coverage of the crisis impacting the world.
We will be attending the UN’s climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow next month where global leaders will seek to strike a deal on climate commitments.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently laid out the choice facing officials at the summit: “We can either save our world or condemn humanity to a hellish future.”
We will provide in-depth coverage of the summit from Glasgow between 31 October and 12 November.
Action vs words
There have already been some major changes announced in recent weeks with the US saying it will double its overseas climate aid and China planning to stop new coal production abroad.
Governments have been talking about tackling climate change for many years, but as we know, actions speak louder than words.
In the six years since the landmark Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise along with disasters such as drought, flooding and rising temperatures.
We’ll be reporting on this mammoth topic from all sides – looking at extreme weather events and rising temperatures, examining EU and Irish policy, fixating on data centres and focusing on the many different impacts climate change is having on our world.
This is a hugely important issue and one that has been historically under-reported by media. Although we will be focusing more acutely on the topic this month, it will continue to be woven into coverage across the board.
As part of The Journal’s Good Information Project, we also want to hear your ideas: the topics you want to know more about, and how we should put this important issue into context.
We want to hear from you
The Journal launched The Good Information Project with the goal of enlisting readers to take a deep dive with us into key issues impacting Ireland right now.
You can keep up to date by signing up to The Good Information Project newsletter in the box below. If you want to join the discussion, ask questions or share your ideas on this or other topics, you can find our Facebook group here or contact us directly via WhatsApp.
This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work is the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.
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