Commonwealth climate change communication conference
Rationale
Climate change is and will continue to be one of the central issues in the world´s agenda. The 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Copenhagen in December 2009 has reiterated how much still needs to be done in order to tackle the various challenges climate change -and its various ramifications- pose to mankind.
Across the Commonwealth, the latest meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of State (CHOGM 2009) in Trinidad and the commitment expressed in the “Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus” to help Commonwealth States to face the challenges of climate change are some of the concrete signs that climate issues are taken very seriously by Commonwealth countries, which now actively search for ways to cope with the various challenges it poses. Within the universe of the measures now being pursued to handle climate change, a special emphasis should be given to information, communication, awareness and training. This is due to the fact that by proper education and communication on climate change will offer the tools needed in order to allow a better understanding of the problem and support the search for solutions at the regional and global level.
Based on the perceived need to foster a broader awareness on climate change and to communicate it more efficiently, the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” is being organized. There are two key arguments which speak for the choice of “communication” as the focus of the Conference:
Firstly, it is widely acknowledged that climate change is responsible for and may indeed lead to further serious impacts on Commonwealth countries, in particular to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which are especially vulnerable. Communication is a key element of any mitigation and adaptation strategy and hence needs to be considered in all relevant mitigation and adaptation plans. Secondly, whereas most events previously held have focused on technical and technological aspects of climate change, the need to raise awareness about it and to motivate people to be engaged in the climate debate themselves has been largely overlooked. If people continue to see climate change as being detached from their day-to-day lives, they will feel less motivated to be involved in the climate change problem-solving process. The conference will contribute towards reversing this trend.
The thematic focus of the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” will allow in-depth discussions about education and communication approaches and methods to inform and raise awareness about climate change, and hence support the search for global and regional solutions for the impacts climate change have and will have on Commonwealth nations.
Format
The “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” is composed by the combination of a scientific symposium per se - for information exchange and knowledge transfer among the relevant stakeholders - and accompanying working group sections, gathering researchers, government officials, educationalists, policy makers and further interested people, encouraging them to jointly discuss ways how to overcome existing barriers towards efforts in fostering climate change communication. An exhibition of the work delegates are undertaking across the Commonwealth will also organized, providing a platform for further interactions. The “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” will also pay a special emphasis to research linking climate change with one or more of the Millennium Development Goals categories: poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality and women's empowerment; child mortality; maternal health; HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; as well as environmental sustainability. Whereas many participants will mainly use the Conference for information purposes, direct interactions, exchanges and discussions on cooperation possibilities for joint activities and projects between the participants will be encouraged.
Aims
The “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” aims to:
- Introduce the latest findings from research and studies on climate change education and communication and their links with changes in attitudes, perceptions and behaviours;
- Discuss approaches and methods to foster communication on mitigation and adaptation to climate change, as well as the problems, barriers, challenges and potentials related to the promotion of awareness on climate change;
- To introduce projects and other initiatives being undertaken across the Commonwealth on climate change communication and information, by universities and scientific institutions, government bodies, national and international agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders;
- Foster information exchange among government and non-government organizations active in this field in Commonwealth countries.
- Due to the relevance of this event, its scope and the fact that it fully supports the goals of the “Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus” and the “Lake Victoria Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan” and their further implementation, it will provide a basis for further initiatives in this field, especially in respect of capacity building. The “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” will congregate around 100 participants representing government agencies, academics and well-established NGOs from Commonwealth countries.
- Last but not least, the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” will encourage more networking and information exchange among participants and hopefully catalyze new cooperation initiatives and possibly new projects in Commonwealth countries.
Programme
Wednesday 24th November 2010
- 09.00-10.00 - Arrival and registration
- 10.00-11.00 - Opening Session
- 11.00-11.30 - Coffee and visit to exhibitions, session 1 -
- 11.30-12.00 - Key note speech (I): Communicating Climate Change
- 12.00-12.30 - Key note speech (II): The Lake Victoria Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan
- 12.30-13.00 - Discussion
- 13.00-14.00 - Lunch and visit to exhibitions, session 2 -
- 14.00-14.20 - The international Climate Change Information Programme
- 14.20-14.50 - Capacity-building in climate change
- 14.50-15.20 - Communicating Climate Change Across Audiences: the work of the Commonwealth Foundation
- 15.20-15.50 - Coffee and visit to exhibitions Session 3 -
- 15.50-16.30 - Communicating climate change in Asia: concerns and challenges
- 16.30-17.00 - Discussion Evening: Reception
Thursday 25th November 2010
- 09.00-09.30 - Key note speech (III) Strategies to communicate climate change in the Caribbean
- 09.30-10.00 - Introducing the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN)
- 10.30-11.00 - Session 5 - Climate change communication in the Commonwealth: some experiences at the country level Nigeria Ghana St. Lucia Malta Guyana Sri Lanka
- 14.00-16.20 - Parallel Working Group Sessions:
Session A - Communicating Climate Change to Journalists
Session B - Business Schools , Society and Climate Change: bridging the communication gap
- 16.20-17.00 - Plenary Session: Challenges to Climate Change Communication in Australia, Asia and the Pacific Region
Friday 26th November 2010
- 09.00-10.30 - Agencies´ Forum: providing support to climate change communication: examples of projects Project 1/2/3/4
- 11.00-13.00 - Parallel Working Group Sessions
- 14.00-15.30 - Parallel Working Group Sessions
- 15.30-16.00 - Coffee and visit to exhibitions
- 16.00- 17.00 - Plenary session: summing-up and closing remarks
Evening: Farewell Dinner