The devastating effects of climate change are on the rise in Africa, and some studies suggest a need for a greater media coverage of environmental issues in the continent.
Africa has been warming progressively since the start of the last century, with the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warning that the northern and southern areas of the continent are likely to get drier and hotter while the Sahara region gets wetter.
The Horn of Africa, for instance, is under threat of worsening drought conditions, food insecurity and other impacts of climate change.
One of the countries in the above-mentioned part of Africa, Djibouti, is vulnerable to climate change and its adverse impacts from increased temperatures, increased aridity, reduced precipitation, and rising sea levels, the World Bank 2021 Climate Risk Country Profile shows.
The socioeconomic and environmental implications of climate change are expected to affect water resources, agricultural and livestock, coastal zones, health, and tourism sectors in the small African country.
However, data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism shows that there is poor reporting of environmental and climate change issues in the African media.
Joshua Ochieng, in a study of the Media Coverage of Environmental Conservation Issues, also noted that environmental issues represent a very low proportion of all stories covered by newspapers.
In fact, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had to scale activities for East African media coverage of conservation issues in order to empower journalists from the area to cover the environment more effectively.
‘Greater coverage expands East African awareness of the importance of conservation, and of what individuals and groups can do to stop environmental degradation and wildlife trafficking’, USAID said.
Media coverage of environmental and climate change issues is undoubtedly important in building public discourse, actions and policy change towards mitigating ecological damage.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has noted that the way the media covers climate change will affect how well African societies deal with the problem.
The situation appears to be more difficult in Djibouti, as data from the United States Department of State suggests that the country’s government does not respect freedom of expression.
Additional data from Freedom House rated Djibouti as ‘not free’ in its 2021 Freedom in the World study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, with the country earning 24 points out of a possible 100.
In a bid to turn the tide, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently conducted training for journalists in the area of climate change reporting in the country.
The UN programme, in a tweet, said it has trained about 20 journalists in the area of media coverage of environmental concerns in Djibouti.
It was learnt that the training was conducted as part of a national capacity building project, supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to improve decision making and integration of global environmental obligations.
‘About 20 journalists in [Djibouti] were trained on media coverage of [environmental] concerns as part of national capacity building project to improve decision making [and] integration of global environmental obligations’, UNDP tweeted.
The journalists are now expected to publish stories on environmental sustainability and climate change more regularly with improved expertise.
The UNDP action is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) number 13, which states, ‘Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’.
Trainings and funding for both journalists and newsrooms are needed if the media coverage of environmental and climate change issues in Africa is to take a positive turn.
Photo source: UNDP Djibouti
