Lost in Translation? Climate Communication Across Borders
As climate change affects communities across the world, communicating climate stories across borders and audiences remains a challenge. While some local stories gain international attention, others struggle to reach beyond their immediate communities. Differences in knowledge, priorities, and lived experiences raise questions about whose voices are heard, how climate issues are framed, and what makes a local story relevant to global audiences.
While climate communication plays an important role in raising awareness and shaping public understanding, reaching audiences with different perspectives and realities is not always straightforward. Stories that resonate in one context may fail to connect in another, particularly where climate concerns intersect with livelihoods and everyday priorities. These challenges highlight the need to better understand how local experiences can connect to broader global narratives without losing their original meaning.
Through a short film screening and panel discussion, SFOC will bring together perspectives from journalism, international civil society, and climate communications to explore what makes climate stories resonate across borders. Drawing on successful and unsuccessful examples, the session will examine how to engage diverse audiences, connect local experiences to global narratives, and strengthen links between Asian civil society and international media to bring more Asian and Korean climate stories into global coverage.
Speakers:
Tim Schauenberg, Climate Reporter & Correspondent (DW)
Richard Black, Head of Communications (Climate Analytics)
Tessa Fluence, Head of Public Engagement (Environmental Justice Australia)