on nov. 12, planet forward wrapped up the series with a conversation between scholars and storytellers: “champions of climate justice: where do we go from here?” the panel focused on the climate justice movement and how to report stories on sustainability that captures a range of diverse voices and perspectives. 

dr. imani cheers, award-winning digital storyteller and associate professor at gw’s school of media and public affairs, led the discussion. joining her in conversation were dr. lemir teron, associate professor at the planet forward pillar school suny-esf; matt scott from project drawdown; and lexi hernandez, planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 and senior at pillar school chapman university. the panel shared tips, perspectives, and best practices on how to keep climate justice as a central part of how we adapt to a changing environment. you can watch the complete discussion above, or over on our youtube channel.

you can see the videos from other fall events on our salon page.

here are our key takeaways from cbs news meteorologist and climate specialist jeff berardelli, cnn health and science unit producer jen christensen, and wnet executive producer eugenia harvey on how to create lasting climate communication that won’t get washed away in the rising tides.

1. value visuals.

when addressing any story as rich in data as climate change, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers. in 2018, berardelli quit his job as a chief meteorologist in south florida to study this data at columbia university’s earth institute. however, when asked about the role of complex science in climate reporting, berardelli said,“i don’t think there needs to be much.” he recommends finding visual, rather than numerical, means of depicting the changes our planet faces. 

in support of this point, berardelli wore a rectangular, blue, white and orange striped pin on his lapel. this graphic, known as the “warming stripe,” clearly and effectively communicates the rate of increase in global temperatures from 1850-2018, without any need for numbers.

2. appeal to your audience.

everyone has a reason to care about climate change. the key is figuring out which reasons are most compelling to your audience. while certain audiences might be alarmed to hear about the rapid rate of species decline, others might be more interested if the issue was framed as an economic one. in that case, the challenges of climate change can be framed as an opportunity for new industry, innovation, and growth.

“everyone cares about money, unfortunately,” berardelli said. “that’s just the reality.”

ultimately, the key to good communication is empathy and the ability to meet people where they are.

“we have to deal with it with kindness and, i think, a lot of compassion,” harvey said.

3. create connections.

a crisis of the environment naturally affects everything in it. a climate story is never just about the environment but stories of all sorts can somehow be brought back to the environment.

“there’s so much intersectionality,” harvey said.

harvey produced the series “freedom to breathe” for pbs in collaboration with climate nexus. according to pbs, the series chronicles the impact of climate change on the daily lives of residents of the southern and southwestern united states “through health, housing and the economy.” harvey was drawn to the project as an opportunity to show the real people impacted by environmental racism.

“i saw black and brown faces that are often not shown in these stories,” harvey said.

climate change can be used as a frame to discuss systemic social issues relating to race and class that often aren’t given — or can’t be given — a place in fast paced news cycles. additionally, a climate-conscious angle can be woven into stories that are primarily about other issues such as medicine, infrastructure, and business. the more climate is discussed in the context of other stories, the more prevalent it becomes in popular consciousness.

“essentially, we have to normalize it,” christensen said.

4. hone in on humanity.

the story of climate change is one of humanity and the most effective stories are the ones that center on people.

christensen, who served as the national president of nlgja, the association of lgbtq journalists, compared the need to represent those suffering from climate change to queer people “coming out” to advocate for gay marriage. once those not affected by the issue realized that people they know and love were being affected, they were likely to experience a shift in perspective. by making audiences aware of the ways those in their community are already impacted by climate change, communicators can accelerate the push for action.

“you have to help people to understand why the rest of the world matters,” christensen said.

christensen, harvey, and berardelli all warned against getting caught up in jargon and terminology that might alienate audiences from the heart of the matter.

“(climate change) is now an entity that is not just being studied, it is being lived. it is being experienced,” harvey said. “we need to stop squabbling over terminology.”

5. root it in reality.

while it might be tempting to get swept up in long-term projections and doomsday scenarios, the most effective climate stories are the ones that are unfolding as we speak. audiences are less likely to question science when they see it in real-time.

the negative impacts of climate change are tangible in health, agriculture, natural disasters, and more. at the same time, realistic climate solutions and innovations are coming out of communities across the country. by demonstrating practical climate cures, storytellers can create hope and empower audiences to play a positive role. 

“life can be better than it is,” berardelli said. “we don’t think about that.”

at the feb. 13 planet forward salon on tackling the food waste and loss problem, experts chip bowling, meghan chapple, and vimlendra sharan joined host frank sesno to lead the discussion on the topic. this event brought students, professionals, and policy leaders in the field together as the conversation covered how to combat food waste and loss here in the u.s. and abroad — and the challenges and potential solutions for each.

1. food waste is personal.

everyone has wasted food, or has seen it happen. the way we grow, sell, and consume food must fundamentally change if we are to sustain our growing population and reduce the carbon footprint of food waste. a cultural shift must occur in order for this to happen. in developed countries, we waste as much food as sub-saharan africa produces in a year.

food waste is one of united nation’s sustainable development goals. partnered with the world resources institute, the u.n. aims to halve total food waste by 2030, and to do so the problem must be tackled at both production and consumption levels.

2. food loss is different from food waste.

according to un-fao director vimlendra sharan, 35% of food is lost between delivery and retail sale. produce is easily damaged en route to supermarkets, and retailers will reject food for aesthetic reasons, such as bumps on vegetables or a slight discoloration of fruits. the top three food groups in terms of share of total value of food loss are meat, poultry, and fish, followed by vegetables and dairy products.

startups like local cowboy help match food delivery services with charities and food banks in the area. on a policy level, incentives like the good samaritan food donation act encourage retails to donate food with liability protections. currently, there are no financial penalties in the u.s. for wasting food.

3. 28% of all variable land contributes to total food waste.

it’s not just the food we are wasting—it’s the water used to cultivate crops, the energy used to harvest it, and the fuel consumed to transport our food. about 1.4 billion hectares of land (about 3.5 billion acres – the equivalent of about 1.7 brazils in land mass) is used annually to produce food that is lost or wasted.

farmers like chip bowling, a third-generation farmer from newburg, md., and chairman of the u.s. farmers and ranchers alliance, know they must heed the call for more sustainable harvesting practices. “we’re becoming more transparent about how we grow and cultivate our food,” he said on the panel. “while people like farmers, they may not like how we farm.”

4. students are leading innovators of food waste solutions.

college students are on the forefront of implementing sustainable changes in their communities. last call, for example, is an organization founded by two innovators from gw: alumna erin mcgeoy and senior chloe king. last call shares end-of-the-day restaurant deals with members of the community. food that otherwise may be thrown away is sold to subscribers at a discounted rate, anywhere from 50% to 70% off, benefiting both the vendor and the consumer.

5. how we communicate the story of food waste is key.

“people aren’t thinking about how they are connected to the planet,” said meghan chapple, director of gw’s office of sustainability. food is an afterthought in urban metropolises since city dwellers are so far removed from the production of the food they eat. many colleges like gw have opened community gardens and kickstarted on-campus compost programs to bring students closer to their food.

the panel agreed: guilt and shame aren’t effective when it comes to changing behavior. telling a story on food insecurity or sharing a personal anecdote is a compelling way to convey the real challenges of food waste. all across the supply chain, we must work together to curb food waste and better appreciate what we consume.

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here are five takeaways from the salon:

1. owning an electric vehicle (ev) has never been more affordable

from the cost of batteries to the sticker price of the car, the economics of buying and operating an electric vehicle has never been as enticing as it is in 2018.

in 2010, the price per kilowatt hour was about $1,000 for ev batteries, but that number has dropped by almost 80% to around $200 per kwh today, cullen said. when translated to the price of gasoline, she said electricity is equivalent to about $1.10 per gallon — a number not seen anywhere across the country for years.

at the same time, the sticker prices of electric vehicles have been dipping with recently released models from chevy, tesla, and other car companies being marked in the $30,000-$40,000 range, or the equivalent of a non-electric vehicle of the same size once you take into account subsidies.

2. politics can’t change the long-term trend

while governmental incentives, such as the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles, can be altered or scrapped (as it has been proposed), cullen characterizes this as a “setback” rather than a threat to the viability of an electrified future.

adoption and planning for the technology by individual states, other nations and private companies have become so widespread that evs are becoming cost-competitive with their fossil-fueled counterparts by other means. however, cullen said it could displace the united states from its century-long position on the front lines of innovation in the transportation sector.

3. new infrastructure plans in the works could mean further accessibility to evs

among bipartisan agreement that u.s. infrastructure needs a renovation comes an opportunity to acknowledge electric vehicles’ growing presence today and in the nation’s future.

“i think there’s really an opportunity to educate folks about what transportation infrastructure looks like now,” cullen said. “it’s not just concrete. in fact, it’s charging stations, it’s how you accommodate ride-sharing and new means of mobility and automated trucks.”

4. ev batteries have gained an after-life

once an ev needs a replacement battery, its old battery still contains 80% of its charging capacity, cullen said. but does this just create another waste stream from the discarded batteries that power evs?

using planet forward digital media editor dylan trupiano’s video on the subject as a stimulus for the conversation, sesno and cullen discussed how ev batteries can be “strapped together” after they’ve been displaced from the vehicle for energy storage in municipalities and individual homes, essentially being “used to clean the grid,” cullen said. once the batteries have been used past their usefulness, they can be recycled.

5. the market for used hybrids and evs is growing stronger

rob stewart, manager of smart grid and technology at d.c.-area utility company pepco and the chairman of the edta board, said the “incentives that come out for these new vehicles make people who drive (electric) vehicles want to have a newer vehicle. that provides a whole new layer of used electric vehicles that are out there — at a much lower cost…” you might not be able to afford a brand new electric vehicle, but now you’ll be able to take advantage of cars that “still have plenty of life on them,” stewart said. “and at that point they are driving a vehicle that’s very low cost to drive and maintain.”

cullen said that used car value books used to estimate hybrid cars’ resale values really low — with the anticipation that the batteries would expire and be costly to replace. but the batteries actually performed twice as long than expected, which has helped with the hybrid resale market. bottom line: if you’re in the market for a hybrid or electric vehicle, make sure you check the used lot, too.

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here are five things we talked about at the event:

1. we’ve been treating the median climate change outcome as a worst case scenario, when there is still half a bell curve of scenarios that could be worse.

the paris climate accord set a goal to keep global climate conditions from surpassing 2° celsius. however, failing to reach this goal will result in disastrous consequences — and this was the focus of wallace-wells’ article. within the climate conversation wallace-wells said there seems to be a lack of urgency. modeling shows that if emissions continue to rise at the same rate, by the end of the century the world could face temperatures as high as 6° celsius above pre-industrial levels. when climate change scenarios are brought up, we often assume countries will react. however, there is the probability that the world community will not act, or act quickly enough. wallace-wells wanted to emphasize that current conversations do not go far enough in assessing the real risks of climate change. 

2. the world will not be saved by your decision to not eat beef.

“ultimately, the world will not be saved by personal consumption choices,” wallace-wells said. “it will be saved by political decisions and frameworks of cooperation between governments around the world.”  so why does wallace-wells think government intervention is the only way we’re going to see real solutions to climate change? because governments have the ability to change and enforce behavior. while it’s great that we as environmentalists are looking out for the planet in our daily decisions, that alone is not enough. everyone will be affected and, as such, our behaviors need to be adjusted to reduce our impact on a much larger scale.

3. it’s more important to convince those who already care about climate to care more, than it is to convince climate-deniers to believe in the cause.

the likelihood of a climate-denier whole-heartedly taking on the issue of climate change is slim to none. wallace-wells said it is more productive to convince those who do understand the problem, to be more concerned about the issue. in a recent gallup poll, only 33% of americans were worried about climate change a “great deal.” getting americans to take action on climate change is difficult, as it’s not an issue that affects our day-to-day lifestyles. as environmentalists, we need to do a better job communicating the risks of climate change. 

4. it’s not an information issue, it’s an engagement issue.

we need to re-frame how we engage people on climate change. while climate scientists are great when it comes research and data analysis, they are not the best communicators. it is the job of those who are engaged, to use storytelling as a way to spread awareness on the immense risks the future holds, due to climate change. while “the inhabitable earth” received criticism, wallace-wells utilized the power of story to concern people about the issue.

5. a single generation of people has caused the earth to shift from stability to instability. it’s our generation that is going to fix it. 

greenhouse gas emissions started as a result of the industrial revolution. however, it wasn’t until after world war ii that global emissions began to skyrocket. unfortunately, we are talking about a single generation that neglected to consider the impacts of pollution. it’s now up to our generation, to learn from the mistakes of the past and find a solution.  a sustainable future depends on the actions we take today.