Message from the IPRA President: Humanity in Harmony – Climate Change February 2026
3 hours, 35 minutes ago
Whether it is flash floods in Mozambique or India, a hurricane in Jamaica, extreme temperatures in Tokyo or London, or raging fires in California, extreme weather events are being experienced around the world, and news of them is being shared globally. This makes us increasingly recognize that talk of climate change is not just abstract scientific theory. This is something that affects us drastically in different parts of our world; lives are lost, the hard work of farmers, for instance, is reduced to nothing, homes are flattened.
Here in my country, Ghana, in February, which falls within our dry season (November to April), we recently experienced a heavy downpour that caused floods and destroyed some communities. Typically, our rains come down during the wet season (May to October), and the affected communities were clearly taken off guard. The Ghana Meteorological Service has predicted higher than normal rainfall in the southern part of the country from March to June this year. One cannot help wondering how many people in Ghana have heard of this prediction, much less considered what significance it might have for them.
The Knowledge Gap
Climate change and its consequences are such important realities that it is vital to arm all communities, decision-making bodies, leaders and the population at large with the needed appreciation of the issue and information that will help avert or, at least, mitigate the tragic consequences that we regularly hear about. Leaders can, with more urgency, take steps necessary for public welfare and protect lives and property as much as possible. Without knowledge, people perish, indeed!
How would the people know unless they have the opportunity to engage with the information? The importance of communication for addressing the challenges that humanity faces becomes obvious, yet still eludes us in practical terms.
Many people in our world today are faced with serious socio-economic challenges in the areas of health, education, and agriculture. Solutions to many of these issues abound, yet not within the reach of those who need the solutions. There is, often, a glaring gap in communication.
Communication - the Bridge Builder
If communication is to be the bridge builder between those who need the information and those with the information, we, communication professionals, must be an important part of the solution to these challenges. We must be proactive in bridging information gaps in our various contexts and this must be done appropriately. The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) considers Climate Change Communication a critical need. The IPRA Climate Change Communication Chapter empowers PR professionals to combat climate change through ethical communication, aiming to raise public awareness, promote best practices, and align industry actions with UN Sustainable Development Goal 13. Key activities include publishing guidelines, promoting sustainable campaigns, and fostering dialogue on responsible climate reporting. We invite you to participate in the Webinar on Climate Change Communication on 12 March, 2026. Register here.
Even as there are still, today, some who doubt the reality of Climate change, it will be helpful to pool together regularly information on the lived experiences created by climate change around the world. This will, at the very least, contribute to harmonizing humanity’s appreciation of what we face and enable us, more and more, to anticipate and prepare for unseasonable climate events.
Humanity in harmony stands a better chance of survival and well-being!
Kind regards,
Esther Cobbah
IPRA President 2026
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