NTIBI MODISE | Media has a role to play in climate change education

Climate change education should be a collaborative effort led by journalists if South Africans are to acquire requisite knowledge about the phenomenon and its effect on society.

The portfolio committee on forestry, fisheries and environment, which I chair, has made enormous strides in considering the ground-breaking piece of legislation around climate change in SA.

The committee recently, considered the motion of desirability of the climate change bill. Members of the committee unanimously voted to adopt the motion, firstly for the bill’s importance in offering sustainable solutions to the challenges we face, but also determine governance around climate change in SA.

It is difficult to discern how the media reports climate change and on what topics emphasis is placed on. During the Easter weekend last year so many people in the province of KwaZulu-Natal perished during flooding, which was symptomatic of climate change. Over 400 people perished and massive infrastructure destruction occurred.

The South African media reports are seemingly silent about news extracted from climate change science. It seems, that only disasters and conferences get into some newspaper pages, and at those mostly following reports by international news agencies.

The South African media misses an opportunity by failing to build on the momentum and report adequately about climate change. Surely, the lack of reporting cannot be due to lack of understanding of the phenomenon as there is enough literature readily available on this phenomenon.

South African journalists need to make it their task to find out the relevant literature and developments around climate change and intelligibly report on it, otherwise this important phenomenon of our times will remain an obscure concept to many South Africans.

The Climate Change Bill, whose primary purpose is to facilitate effective responses to climate change and a long-term equitable transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy, was referred to the committee in February 2022. Over 13,000 submissions were received and a number of public hearings were held across the country.

In the president’s office, SA hosts a Presidential Climate Commission. As evidenced during the public hearings, journalists failed to capture the essence of this important work and make it relatable to South Africans. As if that was not enough; very little could be found about the recently concluded Africa Climate Week and Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

The summit declaration called for new, sustainable non-debt financial sources to finance Just Energy Transitions and building of climate resilience in a manner that create jobs and fight poverty. SA participated in the African Green Hydrogen Alliance forum and took over the chairship of the forum.

This brings to the table the question of what role does the South African media want to play in the ensuing climate change debates. The work the committee has put into the Climate Change Bill is highly appreciated and was mostly needed. On behalf of the committee, I can proudly say this is a historic piece of legislation which our country needs. The responsibility becomes the media’s to communicate the intentions of the bill. Will they do it?

The broader media dare not fail in their responsibility to enlighten society about the dangers of unmitigated climate change.

The committee will play its part and work to finalise and table the bill in the National Assembly in due course. And when that happens the question will still be relevant to ask: Until when should climate change wait to be the where and what of the story in SA. Essentially, where is the climate change news in the Global South’s media landscape?

• Modise is a MP from Gauteng and the chairperson of the portfolio committee on forestry, fisheries and environment