UAE Climate Forum CEO highlights media’s crucial role in combating climate change
The media industry can significantly contribute in combating climate change and expediting awareness across the globe, according to the President and CEO of a UAE based climate forum.
Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the leader of UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA), said climate solutions may lie in the collective power of the media to catalyse a “holistic change” needed in every sector to combat the climate crisis, state news agency WAM reported Tuesday.
“We cannot overstate the value of the press in today’s world, a world which is both profoundly collaborative and interconnected,” Sheikha Shamma was quoted as saying ahead of the Global Media Congress (GMC) in November. “Climate change is a borderless challenge; therefore climate action will require borderless solutions … for which we rely so greatly on the media.”
The media has the power to deliver the crucial message of climate change to the masses “authentically” and “call to attention” the entire world, she said.
Comprehensive coverage and collaboration with experts and organizations are essential for effective media engagement on sustainability, the CEO added.
This year’s GMC is particularly significant with COP28 due to be held in the UAE in November.
The media congress, which will take place from November 14-16, will focus on how news platforms can come together on critical issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, to activate change by informing communities and policymakers to make informed choices.