Description
Climate without Borders is a new organization, building a global network of renown weather presenters, doing everything we can to spread independent and accurate information on climate change and help you take action to fight climate change. Our mission is to induce long-term behavioral change by improving public understanding of climate science and policy, and its effects on the environment.
Our unbiased approach to climate education is designed to create a broad, sustainable foundation for climate action across all geographic regions and political inclinations.
Several studies point out that climate communication is more than ‘just communicating the facts’. It is about ‘how people feel about the changing world around them’, instead of creating fear by projecting an apocalyptic world (often done in media). The uniqueness of Climate without Borders lies in the fact that we will work with weather presenters, who are trusted and popular. A change of habits, needed from each and every one to tackle climate change, can only be asked by people with whom the public has a relationship of trust.
Climate without Borders members will explain the opportunities that lie ahead. They can talk about innovation, research, science, entrepreneurship, recycling, sustainable energy etc., in their daily weather broadcasts, on their social media, and not only during extreme weather events.
Climate without Borders will be built with and for weather presenters, to educate, inspire and motivate them. It will be their ‘safe haven’ for information, data, good stories, as well as a portal to the climate experts and other allies.
Objectives and beneficiaries
Climate without Borders will become a unique global network of weather presenters. They can join the organization to become reliable and trusted climate communicators. Within this network, we will integrate scientific fellows, research institutions, and universities. These scientific fellows will find a reach for their knowledge and insights, through the weather presenters.
By educating, supporting and inspiring weather presenters we know we can reach a huge public about the necessity to act on climate.
Our allies will profit from the work we do, as we can fulfill their goals of creating awareness. As for sponsors, we will also give a concrete opportunity for their CSR projects if they are interested in creating a market or support for sustainable investments.
Strong points of the solution
Weather presenters are among the most trusted communicators on weather, extreme weather events, and climate change. The weather and climate information they share effectively reach the people and can influence the public mindset on climate action.
Weather presenters are also at the frontline of weather communication when climate disasters occur (see Maibach, E. 2016. TV Meteorologists as Local Climate Change Educators. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science).
Weather presenters are used to working on the interface of media and science. This puts them in a unique position. It is not always as easy as it looks to talk about climate science and the action that is needed towards a sustainable future, when you are not supported by an organization or network, especially when skeptical and denial reactions arise.
Climate without Borders will become the first global network of weather presenters, coming from all sorts of climates. We are supported by WMO, IPCC, UNFCCC, and UNEP.
Expected results and benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation
The members of Climate without Borders aim at preventing loss of lives due to the changing weather, by:
- giving warnings before and during severe weather events and also explaining what people can do to prevent extreme weather to hit them (adaptation);
- giving support to sustainable climate action so to prevent more extreme weather to happen in the (near) future (mitigation).
Scalability potential of the solution
Climate without Borders will be a cooperative network, which has the aim to inspire colleagues. For instance, in the case of a climate disaster occurs and a measure was taken to successfully tackle the impact of it, this can be shared in the platform and used afterward as an example when the same kind of climate disaster occurs. We can learn from each other.
We will start with the founding members, the 25 weather presenters with a daily reach of 375,000,000 viewers/followers. This network has a huge potential to grow, so the scalability potential is also without borders. Given the WhatsApp group we have, with around 140 weather presenters from 110 countries, we are poised to quickly grow into a huge and global community.
[Editor's Note: All information published as submitted by the author(s). Minor edits may have been made for length and clarity.]
