Thinking the Unthinkable with Nik Gowing
Oct 7, 2026 · 22 min · 9 segments
How can we successfully communicate the full scale of the climate crisis when traditional media is pulling back? Marek Pruszewicz warns that "if you leave space fallow, it's going to be filled with…
Nik GowingHost
Now, how much do you feel you're involved in a kind of war on information here? Because the fossil fuel lobby, let's call them that, are incredibly well-moneyed, incredibly well-financed, incredibly determined, and they have got themselves into pivotal positions of power when it comes to the implications of everything we're talking about here.
Do you feel you've got your back against the wall, therefore, in countering them?
It's definitely the case that if you leave space fallow, it's going to be filled with misinformation, disinformation, denial.
There was some really interesting work done after COP 30. that showed there had been a lot of direct funding by the fossil fuel lobby of individual communicators on social media, so people who have their own followings and their own audiences.
And of course, that communication was slanted in a way that supported the fossil fuel industries.
There's a real problem here that if trusted climate journalism vacates this space, as it has been doing, as it is doing, the levels of coverage of climate over the last couple of years have fallen precipitously.
So it's hugely important that anybody who is invested in working in the climate space, invested in climate action, realizes that research and policies are great, but they're nothing like enough.
If we are not communicating clearly, if we are not finding a way to frame the communication in a way that interacts and intersects with people's lives and Ultimately, you are going to see a drop-off in support for action.
Now, how much do you feel you're involved in a kind of war on information here? Because the fossil fuel lobby, let's call them that, are incredibly well-moneyed, incredibly well-financed, incredibly determined, and they have got themselves into pivotal positions of power when it comes to the implications of everything we're talking about here.
Do you feel you've got your back against the wall, therefore, in countering them?
It's definitely the case that if you leave space fallow, it's going to be filled with misinformation, disinformation, denial.
There was some really interesting work done after COP 30. that showed there had been a lot of direct funding by the fossil fuel lobby of individual communicators on social media, so people who have their own followings and their own audiences.
And of course, that communication was slanted in a way that supported the fossil fuel industries.
There's a real problem here that if trusted climate journalism vacates this space, as it has been doing, as it is doing, the levels of coverage of climate over the last couple of years have fallen precipitously.
So it's hugely important that anybody who is invested in working in the climate space, invested in climate action, realizes that research and policies are great, but they're nothing like enough.
If we are not communicating clearly, if we are not finding a way to frame the communication in a way that interacts and intersects with people's lives and Ultimately, you are going to see a drop-off in support for action.
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