Debate around climate change and energy has rarely been more important.
Globally the trends are complex. The price of solar panels has crashed, but so has the price of coal. The US has a gas glut, but Asia a shortage. Long term efforts to prevent extreme climate change appear stalled or in reverse. When it comes to tackling it, most world leaders agree only that agreement is difficult.
This November they’ll meet again, in the Emirate of Qatar - the UK’s largest gas supplier by value last year (see our post coming soon) and home to the world’s newest media power, Al Jazeera.
In the UK an energy bill is set to come before parliament which could (or could not) transform how we generate our power.
It’s about making the facts available, and starting a discussion - not pushing a position.
What happens in the UK matters.
As a first mover towards electricity market reform, the UK could help set the agenda for the EU. Thanks to the City, the UK’s energy behemoths, our leading role in energy engineering and the reach of the British media, changes in the UK could influence what happens around the world - though how much, or how little, is keenly debated.
In the newsroom, energy reform is a story that reaches beyond the environment desk (if indeed a specialist environment desk still exists), to encompass poverty, living standards, jobs, growth and politics.
Energy bills now trump health and education in shaping voter intentions, with stories about them frequently topping most-read lists.
But it’s precisely because the story has become so complex, so inter-disciplinary, and in many cases so emotive, that it needs to be opened up.
Journalism is in flux. The recession and charter renewal have cut newsroom resources dramatically, and as resources become more scarce, there’s a risk the advertisers who help provide them will gain more power.
At the same time, rising demand for digital and online content, and the resulting competition between media outlets and anyone with a blog or Twitter account, has pushed up the story count.
More words, fewer people and less economic return for simple factual content – to say nothing of the crisis in credibility brought about by phone hacking and the Leveson inquiry.
In the new story mix there is reduced incentive to produce original factual content. It takes time to research, especially when that research can then be repeated for free on your rivals’ websites within seconds.
Energydesk’s objective is not to replace the traditional media, but to complement it; to support the coverage of energy and climate change issues through open reporting, open discussion and open data. We want data to be dissected and added to, our stories scooped, our analysis challenged.
Clearly we are not disinterested, or independent – but few are.
Energydesk exists because Greenpeace believes that to tackle climate change we need a debate on energy that’s transparent and informed.
It will draw on the investment Greenpeace has always put into research, analysis and investigations as well as the expertise of its staff.
Our aim is to build the discussion, and bring together journalists, policy makers, academics and experts across industry to widen the debate and challenge mis-information.
We have underlying values. We start from the premise that catastrophic climate change is man-made, avoidable, and should be acted on. Not everyone agrees.
But Energydesk is not where you will find Greenpeace campaign messages. If you want those - go to the press section of the Greenpeace site.
Some Energydesk guest bloggers may not share our outlook on energy and climate change. Others may share our outlook, but not our positions on how to fix the problem. Others will write on topics Greenpeace has no position on.
It’s about making the facts available, and starting a discussion - not pushing a position. It’s also an experiment, and we welcome your feedback, your ideas and your contribution.
Energydesk is sponsoring a discussion on energy and climate change journalism at the Frontline Club on Tuesday 2 October, from 7pm. Tickets are available here or follow the discussion on twitter via @energydeskuk or #brokenfilter.
