Climate change is not only one of the greatest challenges of our time, but also an increasingly important topic for journalistic reporting, which poses challenges for journalists due to its complexity. However, a recent study by the European Journalism Observatory (EJO) and the African Journalism Educators Network (AJEN) shows that journalism education worldwide does not adequately cover climate change. A survey of teachers in African and European countries revealed that two thirds of the institutes surveyed do not offer any courses on reporting on climate change.

Key findings of the study: 

• Lack of climate literacy: Only 35% of institutes integrate climate journalism into their curricula. Obstacles include rigid curricula, a lack of resources and insufficiently trained teaching staff. In some regions, climate change is also a politically sensitive issue. The respondents agree that the topic should be given more attention.   

• Europe and Africa in comparison: Although the effects of climate change vary from region to region - from emissions in Europe to climate-induced migration in Africa - the deficits in education are similar on both continents. In some regions, climate change is also a politically sensitive issue, which further complicates reporting and education.   

• Consequences for reporting: Examples such as the reporting on the COP29 conference in Uganda show that international agencies often dominate the media, while local perspectives and expertise are lacking. As a result, a Western perspective is sometimes overrepresented, while information close to the reality of media users' lives is missing.

The study underlines the need to better prepare journalists to report on climate change in order to promote an informed public debate. Initiatives such as the European Journalism Training Association (EJTA) are working to better integrate environmental journalism into curricula.