Report the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis

Dear RTE,

As our national broadcaster we urge you to give the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis the coverage this important issue needs and that the public deserves.

Over the past number of months we have all observed the daily coverage on the Covid19 pandemic which has been critical to saving lives.
Even more critical due to the enormous magnitude of the impact and risk to millions of lives is the climate and biodiversity crisis.

On 21 May 2020 Friends of the Earth published survey results that demonstrated 90% of the public believed the Government should be guided by the science on climate change as they had been on Covid19 so the Irish public clearly trust science and the experts.

Every day we receive the weather forecast. Could this be expanded to "Weather Forecast and Climate & Biodiversity Update"?

It is really important that the public know the truth of the situation and as our national broadcaster you have a responsibility to report the stark realities. While sharing information on the realities of the climate and biodiversity crisis would be wise, it does not need to be all doom and gloom.

• It could be useful to share tips on what countries are doing around the world. e.g. China are developing solar panels that produce electricity when it rains.
• It could also be an excellent opportunity to share some positive things that are happening around the country and their impact. There are some amazing biodiversity projects taking place in Ireland.
• Another idea would be a "daily tip" for people to do something in their daily lives which has a positive impact. I am sure many viewers would tune in daily for this.
• Also season markers such as the first swallow sighting of the year could be really interesting to a broad range of viewers. Irish people love to talk about the weather and items like this could add a whole new dimension to the subject.

There is a huge amount of scope here for content and RTE would definitely expand its viewer base. It is very clear from the recent survey from Friends of the Earth there absolutely is a public demand for these news stories and huge potential here for RTE.

Many people argue against climate action because they simply do not understand the gravity of the situation and the public urgently need to be educated. Until now the media have not given this issue the coverage it deserves but RTE have an opportunity to change this. We understand there has been some coverage by RTE on this, e.g. the week on climate change in November 2019. However the updates have been too sporadic and irregular to have an impact. The consistency of daily updates that we have seen during the Covid19 pandemic is what the public really want from the experts.

RTE could be a world leader here. Maybe other countries could follow the lead and adopt their weather forecasts too to incorporate climate and biodiversity information. While it's an extremely serious topic it is an exciting opportunity for RTE to do something different to attract many more viewers.