Surge Africa Launches the Climate Reporting Gap Initiative
Surge Africa, One World Media & Mutante announces the launch of the Climate Reporting Gap Initiative during the One World Media Awards Nights in London.
The Climate Reporting Gap Initiative comes at a crucial time where climate disinformation is rampant, political divergence against real climate action is high, and the need to advocate for realistic and inclusive pathways to a climate resilient development and just energy transition is more apparent than ever. At this critical juncture, CRGI sees an opportunity to bridge one of the most important gaps in advocacy - media channels that convey data, information and opinions directly to the masses.
This initiative seeks to develop knowledge and skills, collaborative political, and technical capacity of journalists in how they report and convey stories of climate change and the politics of energy transition. By being coherent and consistent with the global political landscape in how data, messaging and information is shared with news consumers, local media outlets and journalists can begin to shape narratives - local narratives that draws from a global outlook, connecting the dots, and sharing new thinking in how people understand and approach the issues of climate change.
The Climate Reporting Gap Initiative will operate under the following principles:
Unpack the Politics of Energy Transition: The Initiative will give priority to governance and politics surrounding energy transition, this will broadly look at examining the economic landscape to assess feasibility of the energy transition including the opportunities that exist from the lens of decentralizing energy systems, eradicating energy poverty, catalyzing phase out of fossil fuels, governance of transition minerals, building structures to enable transition to take root, and social license of the both old and new energy systems. Expanding Research on Transition Narratives: We will enhance the quality of communication on just energy transitions by developing new communication models and strategies grounded in empirical research, interdisciplinary dialogue and developed via a co-creation process.
Unpack Diplomacy of Transition Finance: CRGI will not only report on who said what, but create a sense of urgency in how financial resources needed to drive the transition must be secured, and how transparency and accountability plays a key role in this.
Localizing Climate Data: CRGI will report and educate audiences through a series of programs, toolkits, short stories, films, and other visual content including through journalism, comics, public campaigns and/or engagement (in local language), ensuring that the language and messaging is adept to the understanding of the masses and aligned to their shared interest.
Position Local Voices From a Place of Power: The Initiative will prioritize people at the centre of its advocacy and communications. As opposed to what should be done to the populace, the narrative will gear towards what the people can offer in a time of social, economic and political turmoil, and how active citizen participation can ground locally-derived solutions amidst a move to new energy systems