Catalan journalists join forces to communicate the climate crisis well.

BarcelonaThe future of the planet is of increasing concern, and one of the open fronts is raising public awareness. Journalists are key players in providing rigorous information, dismantling unscientific denialism, and urging a general cultural change. In this regard, the Association of Journalists of Catalonia is preparing to expand the profession's code of ethics to include an annex dedicated to the subject. Journalist Elisenda Forés, a contributor to ARA, presented the study that will serve as a guide for this update, which will be discussed on November 7 and 8, within the framework of the Seventh Congress of Journalists. During the event, studies by Álex Álvarez on hate speech and by Jaume Suau on trust in the news, self-regulation, and pseudo-media were also presented.

A key point, as Forés explained, is that it's not enough to create content about the climate emergency; rather, awareness is built through the entire narrative broadcast by the media, and therefore, a vision that is as transversal as possible is necessary, permeating the different themes. In any case, and in terms of the narrative, it is recommended to generate action, not compassion. "To avoid the paralysis and feeling of helplessness that leads to climate fatigue, the single discourse of catastrophe and strictly emotional content must be avoided," as detailed in the work.

Thus, it is important to abandon false symmetry by not giving space to climate denialism, prioritize local issues, and focus on visual resources with their own narrative. Another chapter of recommendations has to do with internal coherence. In this sense, unifying vocabulary, training professionals in climate knowledge, and cataloging news clearly can help achieve a better audience reach.

The work also points to actions related to the editorial foundation of the media. It considers, for example, that a healthy course of action would be to sever ties with the companies responsible for the climate crisis, guaranteeing editorial coherence, ethics, and independence. Ultimately, the author argues that the climate issue is also about human rights: "It is a question of global justice for the overexploitation of natural systems and the violation of human rights. This grievance has been perpetrated historically—and also today—by countries of the Global North at the expense of the resources of the Global South."

In any case, an improvement in the perception of the climate emergency is observed. According to the 2024 Eurobarometer, it is now the third most serious problem identified by EU citizens, and for 28% of respondents, it is the most serious issue of all. In fact, in 2014, only 54% of EU citizens considered it a "very big" challenge, and that percentage has already risen to 71%, according to 2022 data. The fact that global newspapers have increased their climate coverage by 300% is considered a factor contributing to this increased awareness.