Broadcasters ‘must educate on climate change and disasters’

Broadcasters must educate and empower their people to face calamities and save lives, the ABU Secretary-General, Dr Javad Mottaghi, said today.

He was speaking at the opening of the 3rd ABU Media Summit on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The two-day summit is hosted by the country’s public broadcasters, Bangladesh TV and Bangladesh Betar.

Dr Mottaghi said broadcasters and media professionals should continue to learn and to train themselves on climate change issues.

“We need the help and cooperation of all organisations involved in the disaster risk reduction process – the government agencies, the science, the youth, women and disability groups, the local communities,” he said.

“We are all stakeholders in this matter and we have to join forces to keep our people out of harm’s way.

“Even more importantly, we have to work together to make all the affected communities and families throughout the region knowledgeable about, and resilient to, climate change and disasters.”

Dr Mottaghi said Dhaka was one of the Asian cities most suited to hold a conference on climate change and disaster risk reduction. 

Dhaka was constantly aware of the continuous potential for regular flooding given its shallow seas. Rising sea levels had already created 2 million climate refugees in Bangladesh.

Reporting by Alan Williams