Disaster-risk Reduction of Climate Communication and Education: Exploring Fossil Fuel Industry’s Reach into Information and Education Spaces

This seminar aims to address the critical question: If people do not know about socio-ecological challenges caused by human actions, will they recognize the urgent need to deal with them? This key question will be addressed in this seminar through the concept of disaster-risk reduction - introduced by Elanur Yilmaz - and the role of climate communication and education. The concept of disaster-risk reduction will be explored in terms of how disaster-risk reduction is typically practiced in terms of emergency preparedness for climate impacts - both mitigation and adaptation strategies - through school educational processes in order to enhance public awareness and public access to information. Disaster-risk reduction will be expanded upon in terms of access to climate change information and education and how pro-fossil fuel influence and communication strategies are targeting publicly-available information and public education spaces, drawing upon Canadian examples by Ellen Field. The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) has commissioned a report (to be released in the fall of 2023) exploring the influence of oil and gas companies on K-12 climate education primarily through funding various education nonprofits in Canada. Relevant findings from the CAPE report will be presented by Jennifer Chesnut, lead author and researcher of the report. Each presenter will speak for 10 minutes, followed by a moderated discussion, welcoming questions from participants. The session will be chaired by Ellen Field.