In this special MEERTalk, David Spratt begins with a short presentation exploring a question that has generated widespread debate: have climate scientists really abandoned their most dire warming scenarios? While the highest emissions pathway is now considered unlikely, evidence suggests the climate system may still be tracking toward dangerously high levels of warming. So how should journalists navigate the complex field of climate research? How should issues such as the IPCC (policy-mediated science), risk management (probabilities versus high-end possibilities), an uncritical reliance on models, and abrupt change be understood when headline writers often favor simple numbers that lack nuance?

Following David's presentation, he is joined by journalists William Davidson, Sayantani Deb, and Syed Ahamed Ali for a moderated panel discussion examining the challenges of communicating complex climate science, uncertainty, and climate risk to the public.

David Spratt is an Australian climate policy analyst and advocate, and Research Director at the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration. He co-authored the 2008 book Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action, which argued for urgent, large-scale action to address the climate crisis, and the 2018 report What Lies Beneath: The Understatement of Existential Climate Risk, which called for reframing climate science within an existential risk management framework. His work explores climate threats, human security, risk assessment, and the need for restorative action.

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