Attention on Climate
One of MCCCRH's communication strategies is always go to where attention already is, rather than think that your message is powerful enough to gain attention by itself. This requires extensive research into the 'attention economy' of national media ecosystems, as well as the relevance of messages.
In Australia for example, a great deal of attention is given to sport, and therefore messages that talk about the future impact of climate change on sport will receive much more attention than simply outlining the science on future impacts of climate change. In 2020, the MCCCRH was commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation to produce reports on three high profile Australian sporting events, on tennis, cricket and cycling and the impact of climate change on these events out to 2050 and 2070.
These reports can be downloaded here:
The reports generated very wide media coverage because they brought climate change and the science to where audience attention already is, rather than trying to bring attention to just the science.
The reports attracted coverage from over 150 media outlets worldwide, with the Hub and ACF conducting numerous TV Radio and podcast interviews in Australia. Below are some select links are provided to articles covering the the report on the Australian Open Tennis Tournament including, in Australia: the ABC, New Daily, Guardian, Huffington Post, The Age, SMH, SBS, 3AW, The Australian, AAP/AFR, and syndicated news in regional newspapers right across the country.
Internationally, the reports reached outlets including Reuters, Outlook India, Xinhau Net, Eurosport, Tennis World USA, Fox Sports Asia, and the New York Times. Such reports also have demonstrated a capacity to influence policy debates, such as calls to move the Australian Open from January to a cooler month of either November or March, as was reiterated in 2022 across the Australian, The Sydney Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail, Herald Sun, Adelaide Advertiser and News.com.au.