- Climate change is already damaging South African livelihoods, with floods, droughts and heatwaves threatening farming, jobs and food security.
- Climate literacy remains low: while most South Africans are concerned about climate change, few understand that human activity is the primary cause.
- Climate reporting should be integrated across all news beats, including health, business, politics, education and agriculture – not just disaster coverage.
- Strong climate journalism drives accountability by explaining the links between extreme weather, fossil fuels, government policy and climate solutions.
- Free resources are available to help journalists produce accurate, evidence-based, solutions-focused climate reporting. *
Limpopo farmer Adam Mabunda understands that climate change devastated his crops in January this year.
His tomatoes, baby marrows and habanero chillies were washed away after unusually heavy rainfall caused severe flooding. His farmhouses and solar panels were damaged too, and he estimates his losses at more than R300 000. He had to lay off seven of his 13 workers.
“The government needs to be more serious and vigilant around environmental issues and climate change… Many people do not comprehend how and why we are ravaged by these so-called ‘natural disasters’,” he told the non-profit Trust for Community Outreach and Education.
Mabunda was right. Research by the Presidential Climate Commission and the Human Sciences Research Council found that while almost 80% of South Africans are worried about climate change, only 17% understand that it is caused by human activities, as established by the scientific consensus.
Understandable concern
South Africans’ concern is understandable. We are living through increasingly destructive floods, longer droughts, more intense heatwaves and larger wildfires. Yet too few South Africans understand why these events are becoming more frequent and severe.
This understanding is important because unless citizens understand the causes of climate change, they cannot hold governments and businesses accountable for tackling it.
Too often, climate reporting is confined to disasters, international conferences or scientific reports, rather than being treated as an issue that affects our health, economy, food security, politics, and daily lives.
Climate reporting belongs on every beat
This gap is highlighted in a doctoral study by communications researcher Dr Enoch Sithole. His research examined how climate change has been communicated in South Africa by government, scientists, business, civil society and the media. It found widespread failures to inform and educate the public.
As Sithole concludes, climate change cannot be addressed successfully in a society that remains largely climate illiterate.
Government should lead with sustained public communication, much as it did during the HIV and Aids epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic. But the media also has a unique responsibility because it reaches millions of South Africans every day.
Sithole argues that journalists should move beyond reporting climate disasters, conferences and scientific findings in isolation. Stories should examine how global warming affects politics, business, health, education, agriculture and even the thorny issue of migration, while highlighting the experiences of ordinary people.
‘Drill, drill, drill’
A health reporter, for example, might explore how rising temperatures increase illness in informal settlements. An education reporter could investigate how floods keep children out of school. A business journalist might examine how climate risks affect investment, insurance or food prices.
Reporters writing about migration might explain the role climate change plays in making conditions intolerable in other countries.
Similarly, reporting on floods or droughts should go beyond rescue efforts and damage assessments. Where evidence exists, journalists should explain the role climate change played, helping audiences understand not only what happened but why.
The same applies to energy reporting. When Energy and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe calls on South Africa to “drill, drill, drill” for oil and gas, audiences deserve more than event coverage. They also need context: new oil and gas projects typically take many years to produce fuel, are generally more expensive than renewable energy, risk locking countries into long-term debt, and exacerbate the climate crisis.
Journalists now have the tools
Fortunately, journalists no longer need to navigate these issues alone. A growing number of free resources can help reporters and content creators produce accurate, accessible and solutions-focused climate journalism.
These include:
- Covering Climate Now, an international collaboration of newsrooms, which offers reporting guides, webinars and practical resources, including its Climate Change Reporting 101 and Climate Solutions Reporting Guide.
- Fossil Free South Africa’s Climate Reporting Guide for SA Media 2026, a searchable guide covering climate science, reporting tips, climate impacts, solutions, expert sources and civil society contacts.
- Fossil Free SA’s Climate Media Lab, which connects journalists and content creators with experienced climate reporters for mentorship.
- Climate Hope, Fossil Free SA’s public education campaign, which addresses common climate myths and highlights evidence-based solutions.
- The Climate Reporting Toolkit Africa , developed by Dr Enoch Sithole, which includes a free online course, practical resources and a database of experts across the continent.
Stories that explain – and inspire
Good climate journalism should also report on solutions. Covering Climate Now encourages newsrooms to avoid portraying climate change as an endless series of disasters that leave audiences feeling helpless.
Solutions are already emerging, from the rapid growth of renewable energy to cleaner public transport, improved waste management, climate-smart agriculture and cleaner cooking technologies. International initiatives such as Project Drawdown, alongside growing South African research, provide evidence that these approaches can reduce emissions while improving people’s lives.
Many journalists already produce outstanding climate reporting, particularly those who specialise in the field. Others understandably find the subject complex or overwhelming. But help is readily available, and there has never been a better time to strengthen climate reporting across every newsroom and every beat.
Adam Mabunda already understands what many South Africans do not: climate change is not an abstract scientific issue. It has a cost, and countless human stories. Journalism cannot stop the next flood, drought, or runaway wildfire, but it can help South Africans understand why these disasters are happening, who should be held accountable, and what solutions already exist.
That understanding is the foundation of better public decisions – and a more climate-resilient future.
*Summary created by AI
Jo-Ann Smetherham is an award-winning journalist now working at media manager for Fossil Free South Africa.
Dr Enoch Sithole is a former lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for Journalism, and is now the executive director of the Institute for Climate Change Communication.
