Weather bulletins on two French TV channels – France 2 and France 3 – will be transformed from Monday into “weather and climate bulletins”.
It is meant to better explain the consequences of climate change on the weather, France Télévisions told AFP.
The aim is “to explain the weather differently, not just to say: ‘It’s going to be sunny tomorrow or it’s going to rain’, but to explain why,” the public group’s news director, Alexandre Kara, told AFP.
He stressed that “the weather is the direct consequence of the climate”.
What climate information will be added to weather forecasts?
In addition to the classic presentation of the weather, “there will be figures, data, we can come back, for example, on temperature anomalies, on the issue of water tables, or even explain the winter drought,” Kara continued.
Initially, this additional information will mainly be provided in the evening weather bulletins on France 2 and France 3. The forecasts will be extended by one and a half and two minutes respectively.
Eventually, the system will be extended to daytime bulletins, according to Mr Kara, who was appointed last October.
“One of my priorities has been to say that we can no longer do the weather the way we have done it since it first existed,” he said, adding that it was “unbearable that we should be happy that it is 25 degrees in Biarritz in February without explaining why.”
He insisted that taking climate issues into account was “a strategic axis” for France Télévisions as a whole, pointing out that they were already present in the “news offer”, news programmes and magazines.
“We will continue to develop and make these events sacred,” he said.
French TV stations go green
These concerns will also influence the group’s internal organisation.
“Except in extreme cases of current events, there will be no more use of planes for reports in metropolitan France. We are going to ask everyone to take the train,” Mr Kara announced.
Similarly, all the editorial staff will undergo climate training and the emphasis will be on energy saving.
In recent months, in response to the climate emergency, many media outlets in France and around the world have committed themselves to dealing with these issues more effectively, and to modifying their organisation accordingly.