The World, public radio’s longest-running daily global news program, produced by GBH and PRX, has relaunched its innovative initiative, The Big Fix, to explore global solutions to climate change. The series reports on the latest science, solutions and challenges of adapting to the impacts on our environment.
“The Big Fix connects to our mission to bring important global issues to the forefront and engage our audience in meaningful and impactful discussions,” said Dan Lothian, executive producer of The World. “As we continue to cover the devastating international impacts of climate change, we will also pay special attention to those working on solutions.”
Carolyn Beeler, the correspondent and editor who leads the effort, told us more about it.
How did the series begin?
We started The Big Fix in March 2020, just as the world was shutting down. It ran until August 2021 and now we're re-launching the segment and reaffirming our commitment to this issue. We'll air about two segments a month and hope to expand this coverage.
What’s the biggest challenge of reporting on climate change and solutions?
One key to good climate solutions reporting is that it's not cheerleading, but solid reporting applying a critical lens to different approaches to cutting emissions and adapting to climate change. What is the promise of a particular solution? What are some of the potential negative side effects? Who is benefiting from it, and who is not benefiting from it? Are there hurdles to a particular solution being scaled up? What will it cost? We also need to look at the downsides of approaches that people consider solutions. We need to be interrogating solutions and not just advertising them.
What impact do you hope the series has?
We hope to bring more focus to what can and should be done about climate change and highlight that a lot of solutions already exist, are cost-competitive and have lots of benefits aside from addressing global warming, like cleaning up our air. A lot of climate coverage is just cataloging that catastrophe — documenting the terrible impacts of climate change, which is really important — but I think we're beyond that. The question now is how quickly are we going to act and what are our options? Our first story of the year focused on how small, pared-down greenhouses can provide a way for small farmers in India to adapt to climate change. Our second looked at how animals are already adapting to climate change — and what limitations they face in that adaptation. Upcoming reports will focus on organic, drought-resistant agricultural techniques in Mexico and the downside of the booming market for carbon credits to local communities in the Brazilian Amazon.
What is the biggest audience takeaway in this series?
That there's a lot we can do to tackle climate change. We all have agency. For The Big Fix, we also want to stress that adaptation — dealing with the impacts of climate change that we're already feeling — is just as Important to focus on as mitigation or slashing greenhouse gases. That's partly an equity issue. The people who have done the least to cause climate change are the ones who will feel it the most and have the fewest resources to deal with it. They largely don't need to cut down on their flying or drive less — so for them, climate change is a story of how to adapt to changing conditions.
Is climate change your specialty?
Yep! I was hired at The World as an environment reporter and producer in 2015, and I covered science and the environment at WHYY in Philadelphia before that. I've reported on climate impacts and solutions all over the world, from Antarctica to Indonesia to Brazil.
Check out episodes of The Big Fix here and Beeler’s global journalism here.
Learn more about the most pressing themes related to climate change by subscribing to GBH's multipart email series Climate In-Focus.
