24 hours to seal the climate deal: The role of digital media and public mobilization for the UN climate talks

Hosted by CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg e.V.
Tuesday, June 23 / Pumpenhaus

In the first two weeks of December 2015, the world will come together in Paris to finalize negotiations for a new, long-term climate change agreement that will be binding for all countries. Even though the conference might be just one step in a long journey to tackle climate change, it is expected to become the most decisive international climate conference since the Copenhagen Summit in 2009. Experience shows that the final 24 hours of such negotiations can be particularly politically tense, with multiple advocacy and communication efforts by governments and civil society and strong media interest as people eagerly await the final “deal”. Meanwhile, the debates take place within a kind of information vacuum, with few updates and official communications on the state of play made available to outsiders.

How can we mobilize audiences for climate action? What is the role of digital media during a UN Climate Conference? Which challenges do communications face and how can they be surmounted so that the objectives can be achieved within such politically difficult circumstances? Media practitioners, civil society, the UN climate change secretariat, key government officials and journalists will contribute to this workshop to discuss the main communication strategies and approaches during the final hours of a conference like the Paris climate summit.

While the workshop does not aim to convey and discuss particular policy positions, it does aim to support the preparation of communications efforts in the run-up to a historic conference on climate change.