I typed ‘climate change BBC news’ into my Google search bar and here’s the random 3 that I selected (albeit perhaps not so random – thanks Google algorithms). Note I have redacted some key information mentioning businesses or individuals as this exercise was not to critique but rather to look at recent media coverage and reflect on its role, either as positive or negative for societal awareness of climate change broadly.  I share my summaries and thoughts, making some interesting connections at the end – let’s go!

Large global bank climate change adverts banned by the ASA

The Advertising Standards Agency banned two adverts from being displayed (last shown October 2021) due to their misleading nature when it came to the bank’s climate change actions. This marks one of the first legally acknowledged ‘greenwashing’ marketing activities from business, i.e. when something is claimed to be glorious and green (eco-friendly) for brand gain when this is not necessarily the case. 

The poster specifically talked about the bank’s investments in planting of trees and funding their clients to execute on their net zero ambitions, but the ASA rub was in this not providing the full view – that the bank ‘omitted significant information about [the bank’s] contribution to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions’ (ASA complaints comment). That is to say, the bank was also found to be investing significantly in activities that were contributing to GHG emissions, for example new oil and gas ventures. The article does not go into detail on the bank’s full investment portfolio regarding green and ‘anti-green’ projects which is disappointing but, undoubtedly, not publicly disclosable in its market sensitivity. 

As a vegan consumer who continuously evaluates brands for their environmental impact I’m really concerned by the general omission of data – a current lack of a universal green scale for consumers to measure companies against. More companies realise that consumers want to ‘feel good’ about where they spend their money and so by putting out a false eco-narrative on their products and services they continue to appeal to the growing conscious consumerism. At the same time, the media also benefits from heightening ‘greenwashing’ activity, given the general mistrust of big business by people and how a conspiracy based story is lapped up.

‘East Africa hit by drought, yet Kenya’s Lake Turkana is flooding’

Lake Turkana has endured four absent rainy seasons that have killed off millions of cattle and left communities struggling with starvation. Yet the river has been growing year on year, by 10% in the last decade. Repeated stories of flash foods devastating villagers nearby was brought to life through one personal account, a mother of ten who lost her family’s livestock through one severe flood, and a second time when their village grazing land was obliterated. 

This almost paradoxical series of events is due to changes in climate patterns that are then exacerbated through human-related environmental changes. Namely, record rainfall over East Africa a few years ago is coming through the ‘system’ much quicker than before, due to a combination of deforestation and overgrazing from livestock population increase. The consequences of this are saddening – famine, vast eco-refugees and migrations to other nearby countries that are fraught with danger. The article finishes with a possible solution but not without serious challenges – a hydroponic system of efficient, low-cost irrigation funnelling water from the ground of the rivers through to produce food sustainably – but even considering this, there are debates that the previous way of life here won’t be viable in the future, and of course a skepticism from the source of the solution, given he clearly has a vested interest in the science of it as a contributor. 

The content of this article brought to life how our industrial actions, if not thought through meticulously, can prove fatal, but also how the outcomes of this are strange and bordering on illogical. The future climate change effects will test our rationality, perhaps because it is a new reality we’ll be facing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-63278497

Climate change: Summer 2022 smashed dozens of UK records

New data has revealed that more than half of the UK’s weather stations recorded their hottest days ever this Summer, according to the Met Office. This didn’t surprise me reading this as I think back to the +40°C figure on all telly screens, and yet commentary from experts was jarring – that this is an unequivocal sign of human-induced climate change and a sign of more to come. 

Since 2000, the hottest day of the year exceeded 35°C seven times, but only happened on five occasions in the 90 years previous. Hence we can expect temperature records to have a short shelf life now, being set and broken cyclically as hot summers get, well, hotter. Considering the disruption this caused in the Summer just passed, be it transport, industry and citizen health, it seems fair to conclude on two things; that these heatwaves will prove deadly, and that the government must start to seriously engage in adaptive technologies, just as I’m sure the UK homeowner will start to consider A/C installation as a necessity.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-63244353

Wrapping up…

From this ‘random’ selection of 3, I was left with a few parting thoughts that I admit aren’t fully formed but thought interesting to capture directly. 

1. These articles will undoubtedly contribute to a growing societal fear (or eco-anxiety, but I don’t like this term that much) that are not necessarily balanced on positive action or what the everyman can do to support change. It’s a cliche to say the media feeds on negative news, but when considering the subject matter here and how technology enables continuous ‘doom-scrolling’ I’m worried for the overall mental health of the content’s consumerbase, and also whether this effect can help or hinder action. After reading these negative climate stories will the consumer do something or nothing about it? 
2. This happened but then the opposite is true. In two of the articles I felt a surprising contradiction. For example, in the case of the bank and the ASA infringement, climate change initiatives the company is engaging in are being countered (even perhaps funded by the profits of) the high GHG emitting investments. In other words, green investment being plastered over underlying black (i.e. carbon based) investment.  In the case of Lake Turkana in Africa, my assumption would be increased rainfall would normally support agricultural development , but the opposite is true – it has obliterated crops and cattle. 
3. Each article has a clear emotional mandate – to anger, to sadden, to alarm. As with any journalism you have to question whether there is an agenda and how the structure of the narrative is somehow clouding the objective view, particularly the use of data. I don’t comment on any political agenda at play in any of these three sources, merely that it is not often as consumers of swathes of news content we actively evaluate eco-biases – do we see the wood through the trees?