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A thread: I'm growing increasingly concerned about journalism around natural climate solutions. I fear that our collective (totally understandable) anxiety around climate change and our desire for hope is impairing our reporting and professional skepticism. 1/n
Part of the problem is that the ideas of nature coming to our rescue, and of green, fuzzy-feeling "win-win"-type solutions, are extremely enticing in an otherwise bleak field.
Another part of the problem is that many of the scientists and others promoting natural climate solutions are compelling characters and genuinely nice people with positive stories to tell, which can be catnip to journalists.
But this is serious stuff. When the media present too rosy a picture, false solutions are rewarded, money is misspent, polluting companies are greenwashed and, most importantly, climate change goes unaddressed.
There is evidence this has already happened with, for example, some of the Bezos Earth Fund's recent gifts. But there will be much more at stake if federal climate dollars start to flow to the wrong people and places.
My call to my science and environmental journalist colleagues: If you are writing about a proposed climate solution, speak to legitimate experts who have expressed skepticism about the solution. Usually they are not hard to find.
Include a section in your story about the critiques and caveats. Ideally, flag high up in the story that critiques and caveats exist, even if the details are buried lower in the story.
And explicitly state that natural climate solutions are by definition limited. They alone cannot solve climate change, even in theory. And almost all are limited even more in practice by the fact that they compete for land with human needs like food and space for wild creatures.
I call on all my colleagues to report on climate solutions in a more serious, critically and rigorous way. Report like the world depends on it - because it does.
(In case you're wondering, yes, this thread was inspired by a particular story published today. But rather than focus on that story, I've decided to share broader concerns I have about this field.)
Lastly a bit of shameless self promotion: If you are looking for someone to write or speak about natural climate solutions in a nuanced, balanced way, discussing tradeoffs and limitations, I am very much looking to do more work in this area. Please get in touch.
Here is one example of a recent story where I feel I have done this: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/climate/wood-pellet-industry-climate.html
Here is another: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2021/climate-solutions/climate-regenerative-agriculture/
