In recent years, the way we talk about climate change has shifted significantly, influenced both by an increased public awareness of the issue and the imminent need for urgent action. From the nightly news to nature documentaries to science-fiction movies, stories of climate change and sustainability are playing larger roles. Each of these media play a role in rethinking how we see climate action across sectors, reframing how businesses, organisations, and people can create value and contribute to the wider goal of sustainability.
In this discussion, we’ll be looking at the meaningful ways the stories across our media landscape can drive climate action. The panel will be discussing innovative methods to weave sustainability into stories, from positive re-framing in the news to micro-messaging in our favourite sitcom shows.
This episode is part of our ‘Critical Conversations’ series with Mars Wrigley UK bringing together pioneers from different technologies looking to build our net-zero and no-carbon future.
On the panel:
Justin Forsyth – Justin is a Co-Founder of the Count Us In Campaign. He has dedicated his life to combatting poverty and injustice – from the campaign against apartheid in South Africa to working for two UK Prime Ministers, as an Assistant Secretary General of the UN, Deputy Head of UNICEF, and with a number of NGOs. Learning from his failures as well as from his successes, Justin has pioneered new communications and advocacy strategies to build unusual coalitions for change, including Make Poverty History and World Children’s Day. His current focus is on building a radical collaboration to inspire a billion people to act on climate change, using the power of culture, entertainment and sport – The Count Us In campaign.
Naomi Jones – Naomi is the Corporate Affairs Director at Mars Wrigley UK. She is responsible for all internal communications, government relations, corporate reputation, brand PR and consumer care for Mars’ UK confectionary business. From starting her career in agency life working in public affairs, she became a specialist in sustainability communications, crisis management and corporate communications, with experience spanning industries from retail to banking. In 2015, she project managed the SUEZ group’s rebranding and repositioning in both the UK and Scandinavia, and has overseen the employee engagement programme resulting in the company being awarded the Sunday Times Best Companies’ ‘Best 25 Big Companies to Work For’ accolade in 2018 and again in 2020, for a predominantly operational and dispersed workforce.
Joi Lee – Joi is an Emmy-nominated producer and journalist who explores the intersections between environment, climate, and social equality. As the Head of Editorial at Earthrise Studio, Joi is committed to expanding the climate narrative and championing diverse perspectives and tools in storytelling. She previously worked with outlets Al Jazeera English, Channel News Asia, and Huff Post across multi-media formats such as virtual reality, 360 video, film, photography and audio, receiving over 25 awards for her work.
Dan McDougall – Dan is a Film Director, Writer and British Foreign Correspondent of the Year – the UK equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize, an award he has also been nominated for three-times. To date he has won four Amnesty International Awards for Human Rights Reporting – covering issues as diverse as child rape in South Africa, LGBT persecution in Syria, the plight of Europe’s Roma and Zimbabwe’s deadly trade in Blood Diamonds. A former BBC Panorama Presenter, and undercover reporter, Dan has reported, overtly and covertly, from no fewer than 125 nations including some of the most hostile environments in the world. Dan’s recent film for Guardian documentaries, Open Water, shot in Greenland, has been shortlisted for 30 leading film festivals, and was part of The Guardian’s recent Webby nomination.
Moderator by:
Juliet Riddell – Juliet is head of new formats at the Financial Times. At the FT, she has produced and directed multiple award winning videos including a Webby, AIB and BAFTA nomination. Juliet leads on the FT Standpoint film series, collaborating with artists to explore current news stories. Juliet was previously a multimedia Commissioning Editor at the Guardian, where she executive produced an award winning short drama, a new YouTube channel and arts, current affairs and documentary series. She has over 15 years experience as a TV producer, director and development executive; including producing two BAFTA winning arts series with Grayson Perry for C4 and prime time factual programmes for BBC, ITV and Sky Arts.