Most recent survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication on Indonesia found that only 53% of Indonesians believe climate change is happening. Only 35% of those believe that climate change is caused by human activities. These numbers are significantly lower than the global average. The survey also found that Indonesians are more concerned about the immediate impacts of climate change, such as droughts and floods – than they are about the long-term impacts, such as sea level rise and threat of missing islands.
In an archipelagic country of 17000 islands the findings are worrisome, to say the least. They suggest many Indonesians are less aware of the scientific consensus on climate change and therefore, are less able to build informed decisions to protect themselves and their communities from the climate crisis.
They also provide a strong argument for the need for wider climate journalism practice in Indonesia. Climate journalism can, and must, play a vital role in raising public awareness of climate change and its impacts.
There are ways that climate journalism can do so. One is to increase the number of journalists covering climate, in order to boost climate reporting. As of now, the number is relatively small. This often means climate change does not receive the attention it deserves in the Indonesian media.
Another way to improve climate journalism practice is to upgrade the quality of climate reporting. Lacking in training and resources are common occurrences in the newsroom that effectively hinders climate reporting. This can also lead to inaccurate or misleading reporting.
Finally, there is a need to make climate journalism more accessible to the Indonesian public. Much of the climate reporting in Indonesia is published in English-language media, which excludes a large portion of the population. There is a need for more climate reporting in Indonesian-language media, and in formats that are accessible to people with lower literacy levels.
Picture by Tom Fisk downloaded from Pexels.com
Indonesia Butuh Lebih Banyak Liputan Iklim, Sekarang Juga
Survei terbaru yang dilakukan Yale Program on Climate Change Communication di Indonesia menemukan bahwa hanya 53% masyarakat Indonesia yang percaya bahwa perubahan iklim sedang terjadi. Hanya 35% responden mempercayai perubahan iklim disebabkan oleh aktivitas manusia. Angka-angka ini jauh lebih rendah dibandingkan rata-rata angka persepsi iklim global. Survei ini juga menemukan bahwa masyarakat Indonesia lebih khawatir terhadap dampak langsung perubahan iklim, seperti kekeringan dan banjir – dibandingkan dampak jangka panjang, seperti kenaikan permukaan laut dan ancaman hilangnya pulau-pulau kecil akibat tenggelam.
Di negara kepulauan dengan 17.000 pulau, temuan ini cukup mengkhawatirkan. Nampak bahwa Sebagian hamper separuh masyarakat Indonesia tak menyadari konsensus ilmiah mengenai perubahan iklim dan akibatnya, tak cukup cermat kalua harus membuat keputusan untuk melindungi diri dan komunitasnya dari dampak krisis iklim.
Temuan survey ini memberi alasan kuat kenapa jurnalisme iklim sangat mendesak di Indonesia. Jurnalisme iklim bisa, dan harus, memainkan peran penting dalam meningkatkan kesadaran public tentang ancaman perubahan iklim dan dampaknya.
Ada beberapa cara untuk itu. Salah satunya dengan meningkatkan jumlah jurnalis yang meliput isu iklim, supaya pemberitaan iklim turut meningkat. Saat ini jumlahnya relatif kecil. Ini lah penyebab kenapa perubahan iklim sering tak mendapat perhatian yang layak di media di Indonesia.
Cara lain untuk meningkatkan praktik jurnalisme iklim adalah dengan meningkatkan kualitas pemberitaannya. Kurangnya pelatihan dan sumber daya merupakan kejadian umum di ruang redaksi yang secara efektif menghambat dilakukannya liputan perubahan iklim berkualitas. Persoalan ini juga bisa berujung pada pemberitaan tidak akurat atau menyesatkan.
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