A three-day workshop on sensitization of media in the area of climate change concluded on Thursday, wherein the experts called for evidence-based reporting of climate change vulnerability, adaptation, mitigation and impacts.
The workshop themed “Climate change reporting in the Himalayas” was jointly organized by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), the Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) and the State Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing.
Delivering the valedictory address, Commissioner Secretary Information, Forest Ecology and Environment, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi urged media persons to highlight issues relating to climate change in the context of the state climate action plan with an objective to generate awareness about climate change among people.
He announced that the Green Skills Development Programme, which was launched in the state last year, would be soon expanded to new subjects. “We need a large number of people trained in different skills with a capacity to deal with various aspects of climate change and environment such as renewable energy and data science,” he said.
Dwivedi further said that state has taken several initiatives such as the ban on single-use plastic, non-biodegradable cutlery and establishment of the anti-polythene check post. “Work has also been started on a project for rainwater harvesting in slopes in rainfed areas,” he said.
Later, he also gave away certificates to the participants of the workshop which was attended by journalists and researchers from Srinagar, Leh, Jammu, Poonch and Kargil. Director, Department of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing, B Siddharth Kumar, was also present on the occasion.
Earlier, in the morning, a roundtable discussion was held in which environment journalist Athar Parvaiz, Dr Majid Farooq (Nodal officer, State Climate Change Cell), Salman Khursheed (People’s Environmental Council), Dr Danish Nabi (North campus, Kashmir University), Dinesh C Sharma (Managing Editor, India Science Wire) and Ms Annu Anand (Head, Advocacy, CMS) participated.
They stressed the need for bridging the gap between media and scientists as well as policymakers for improving the quality of climate change reporting in media.