The event will be chaired by Dr Benedetta Brevini, senior lecturer in Communication and Media at the University of Sydney and editor of the text, alongside Justin Lewis, Professor of Communication at Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.
Presented by Sydney Environment Institute in partnership with the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney, the launch will include an international panel of experts in discussion on key themes of the text, including why media coverage has fallen short in communicating both the science and the politics of climate change.
Over the last 25 years the weight of evidence about the causes and consequences of climate change has become compelling.
The solutions are fairly simple — we must switch to more sustainable and efficient forms of energy production.
And yet they remain elusive — globally, we produce significantly more greenhouse gases now than we did back in 1990.
The sad truth is that this inaction has made climate change inevitable — the only question that remains is whether we can prevent it spiralling out of control.
How do we explain this colossal global failure?
The problem is political rather than scientific: we know the risks and we know how to address them, but we lack the political will to do so.
The media are pivotal in this equation: they have the power to set the public and the political agenda.
The new collection edited by Dr Brevini and Prof. Lewis is a vital contribution to a political climate that remains startlingly slow in its response to climate change.
Dr Brevini joined the University of Sydney in 2013.
Before that, she worked in London for City University and Brunel University.
Dr Brevini is also an experienced journalist who has worked in Milan, New York and London for CNBC and RAI.
Her research is grounded in a critical political economy that investigates the relations between communications, politics, power and inequality.
The launch will take place on Monday, November 5, at the University of Sydney from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
Book your place here.
