Hello, and welcome to this latest edition of From a Climate Correspondent, a newsletter exploring the climate crisis around the globe.
Every week we share insights on the fight against climate change, from our adoptive countries – namely Kenya, Hong Kong, Costa Rica and India.
Thanks for reading and stay safe,
From a Climate Correspondent team - India, Jocelyn, Lou and Mat
Climate reporting in the time of COVID
Letter no.16 by Mat Hope in Nairobi and London
What a time to break down.
We’d been listening to the news, of course. We knew COVID-19 was coming, but we didn’t want to be the kind of people who panic-bought loo roll. So we decided to be the kind of people that panic-safaried instead.
As we stood over an open hood, attempting to draw life out of a stubbornly idle engine with no tools or expertise, this course of action looked increasingly foolish in the face of a global pandemic.
Image credit: Mat Hope
Two days. That’s how long we managed to hold out.
I went from intently watching a 50-strong herd of elephants in southern Kenya to impatiently gazing at a baggage carousel in Heathrow airport in 48 hours.
Of course, and as always, I was one of the lucky ones.
I had been planning to come back to the UK for a hiatus anyway, so the foundations of my departure (sub-letting my flat, leasing my car, boarding the cat) were all in place. They just had to be done earlier than expected.
As usual, I purchased my way out of the problem. Last minute flights were booked. Couriers were hired to ferry belongings to and from their temporary new homes. Excess baggage costs were absorbed. More than ever before, I was painfully aware these are options open to the few, not the many.
Now safely installed back in my London nest, the extent of the change to mine and everyone’s immediate prospects is just starting to sink in. We face a world where options have become limited. For journalists working on a global issue, whose incomes rely on finding and meeting and talking to people in locations others can’t or won’t access, the future is uncertain, to say the least.
Grounded
For many climate journalists, their livelihood is based on the premise that they can cover any story, anywhere, at the drop of a hat.
Cheap air travel has been a great enabler. Secure a commission, go to the Mara, chat to some Masai people, snap a few pics of charismatic mammals in front of a sunset, and get home in time for the weekend. That may sound glib, but for a while now it’s been a reality.
The COVID outbreak has changed that. At least in the short-term.
Chart credit: Visual Capitalist
The airlines have long been seen as a villain by environmentalists. In recent weeks, fairly or otherwise, they have been vilified by the wider public, too. First, for enabling the spread of a fantastically infectious virus. And then for asking governments to step in with multi-billion dollar rescue packages.
In the US, Congress agreed a $58 billion bailout package for the nation’s airlines. In the UK, the industry has been warned not to expect the same.
Briefly, it seemed policymakers would seize the potential of recovery measures to drive a greening of infamously dirty industries. In the US, after fierce lobbying and recalcitrance from the President downwards, those measures were dropped. There are some strings attached, but they are financial, not environmental. It’s a pattern the EU has promised not to repeat. Time will tell.
There are currently 119 airlines that are over 95% grounded, according to data from COVID airline tracker. But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that if the airlines can hang on or get rescued, their future is bright (assuming global climate policy doesn’t force a step change for the industry -- which seems like a safe bet in the short term). After previous crashes, the industry recovered quickly.
It seems likely that if the industry does recover, there will be a return to the uncomfortable norm of climate journalists jetting around, covering a crisis they are (in their own small way) causing.
But maybe not. How journalists respond under enforced circumstances in the coming months will shape the future of this particular corner of the industry.
Working remotely, remotely
At this point there are more questions than answers.
Through necessity, editors may find more local journalists to cover stories far from home base. That would seem to be a net positive for many regions.
And journalists themselves will have to focus on stories closer to home. That could bring previously unheard voices to the fore.
But constrained travel could also penalise those harder to access communities, pushing their stories back into the shadows -- reserving coverage for those with ready access to Zoom.
It has also put environmental journalists across the world in a freshly precarious position. As a commissioning editor, at a guess, I'd say the number of pitches I receive this week has doubled as writers try to lock in work for the coming rocky months.
But publications will be tightening purse strings as they prepare to feel the squeeze from loss of advertising revenue or philanthropic funding, making the environment more competitive than ever.
Many journalists in East Africa are facing a prolonged period of financial uncertainty during a time where savings will be stretched to breaking point. Commissions for climate coverage are already hard to come by in the region, and they almost always require travel. As always, it will be journalists from the less-covered, most vulnerable regions, that suffer most.
The world COVID-19 is creating has ramifications for everyone, including the FACC team. With half the founding team now back ‘home’, we’ll endeavour to keep bringing you stories from the frontline of climate reporting. That may be from correspondents nearer to the action (climate change waits for no-one), if we can raise enough money to pay them -- you can help that effort by contributing to our Patreon here. Otherwise, we’ll continue to do what we can ourselves, reporting from our own new normal -- operating from afar.
Must reads from the region
Why Africa Needs the World to Keep the Rise of Global Temperatures at 1.5°C, Shingirai Nangombe, The National Interest
Chinese Academy of Sciences professor Nangombe explains the benefits to the continent of preventing an additional half a degree of warming. The impact of extreme temperatures and tropical cyclones could be mitigated by keeping emissions in line with the Paris Agreement’s more ambitious target, his group’s research shows.
The 'Scramble for Resources' And How it Fuels Conflict, David Njagi, All Africa
From increasing food security to tackling corruption, there are many ways East African countries can simultaneously build peace and address climate change. Njagi talks to activists and workers on the frontline of the dual problems.
Climate change: how Senegal’s colonial history made it more vulnerable, Nick Bernards, The Conversation
Climate vulnerability is rooted in the patterns of inequality shaped by colonial legacies, argues University of Warwick assistant professor Bernards. He explores the issue through the example of Senegal’s peanut trade -- a vulnerable non-native species reliant on rainfall that was introduced by Portugese traders from South America in the 16th century.
African countries must get smarter with their agriculture, The Economist
New technology and “big jumps” are going to be the key to securing food supply and lifting people out of poverty in Africa, this special report concludes. It contains some eye-popping statistics, such as that under even 1.5C of warming, about 40% of the land now used to grow maize would no longer be suitable.
What else I've been reading...
These satellite photos show how COVID-19 lockdowns have impacted global emissions
The environmental impacts of the coronavirus pandemic may be short-term, but they’re fairly astonishing to see. These satellite images show in technicolour the impact that normal human activity has on air pollution across the world. Mesmerising.
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