By Jeremy Lovell, Thomson Reuters Foundation Instructor
COPENHAGEN, Dec 23 – The Copenhagen climate conference may have achieved very little in the way of getting to grips with the global climate crisis and damaged international relations in the process, but it did prove that a year of developing world media training workshops sponsored by COM+ had bourn fruit.
As the Copenhagen meeting teetered in the verge of collapse as heads of state and government from some of the most powerful nations on earth found themselves in the unique position of negotiating through the night on dates, figures and phrases in a “Copenhagen Accord”, the now-seasoned workshop participants took it all in their journalistic stride.
“This is very exciting. I am so happy to be here. But I am not sure what good it is doing the climate,” observed one exhausted workshop participant as the sleepless international bickering stretched through successive nights before finally ending nearly a day over schedule on December 19.
In the 12 months and five meetings from Poznan, Poland in December 2008 to Copenhagen in December 2009 that I have been trainer to the group, the reporters from Asia, Africa and Latin America who were chosen for the UNFCCC developing country key media workshops have turned into skilled story hunters.
Not only have the 20 blossomed in knowledge and understanding of the issues, they have also grasped the elements of the negotiating process — no mean feat in itself – as well as getting to know their national delegations and homing in on them at each event.
They have also developed a strong group relationship. Via the “UNFCCC Media Workshops” group on Facebook and the email group there has begun the kind of intra-meeting liaison from Asia to Latin America that is vital to maintaining the much-needed exchange of stories, information and ideas.
The progressive move from the classroom to the conference floor between Poznan and Copenhagen was well-paced and well-received by the workshop participants, giving them a good balance between learning and reporting time.
The UNFCCC’s decision to bring them in for the whole meeting in Copenhagen, rather than just the second week which had previously been the norm, was inspired.
Although they were all starting to suffer fatigue by the end of the first week – as was everyone else – they were so much more aware and better informed than their journalist colleagues who came in just for the second week or even just the last few days.
To underscore the importance of what has been achieved here – the creation of a multi-national pool of experienced and now climate-skilled developing world reporters where none existed before – I took a straw poll of the group asking if any of them could or would have been there without the training programme and its financial assistance in getting them there in the first place.
Without exception the answer was a resounding “No!”
Click here to read reports by course participants.
For questions regarding the workshop please contact: press@unfccc.int