CCC stresses responsible journalism in climate governance

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) highlighted the importance of responsible storytelling during the national wrap-up seminar of Terra Asia, a project initiative of Canal France International (CFI) that aims to upskill journalists in Asia and the Pacific in dealing with ecological information and combating misinformation.

Speaking at the event, CCC Vice Chairperson and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje emphasized that journalism plays a critical role in climate governance by translating policy into public understanding and accountability.

“Responsible storytelling does not merely explain policy. It completes policy by subjecting it to public understanding and public consequence,” Borje said.

“And public consequence matters because understanding creates accountability.”

Borje underscored that in a country highly vulnerable to climate impacts, informed reporting strengthens processes by making climate risks, decisions, and trade-offs visible to the public, particularly at the local level where climate action is implemented.

“An informed public makes neglect visible. It closes the exits for evasion. And it makes bad decisions politically untenable,” he said.

“Journalism does not govern, but it performs something just as essential. It makes it harder to govern badly.”

Borje noted that the stories produced under the project demonstrate how sustained, contextualized reporting can shape public discourse beyond moments of crisis.

“By sustaining attention beyond the moment of disaster, by tracing impact back to cause, and by insisting on context where convenience would prefer silence, the press helps determine whether climate change becomes a series of isolated crises or a turning point toward foresight, responsibility, and justice,” he said.

He added that as the government advances national climate frameworks such as the National Adaptation Plan and the Local Climate Change Action Plans, responsible journalism becomes an essential partner in ensuring that policies are understood, scrutinized, and meaningfully implemented.

The CCC reaffirmed its support for initiatives that strengthen the capacity of journalists and government communicators, recognizing media as a key actor in advancing climate literacy, public engagement, and accountability.

“In the end, strong and climate-resilient democracies are not sustained by individual political personalities, but by institutions, and by responsible journalism—that make it harder for power to forget whom it serves, and what the nation’s future demands,” Borje said.

The Terra Asia wrap-up seminar gathered journalists from the Philippine Broadcasting Service–Bureau of Broadcast Services (PBS-BBS), the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), development partners, and institutional stakeholders to reflect on the outputs of the year-long training program and the future of environmental journalism in the Philippines.

Aligned with its mandate as the government’s lead climate policy-making body, the CCC reiterated its commitment to working with the media, development partners, and institutions to advance climate-resilient governance and a more climate-aware Philippines.