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Karine Durand        

TV Presenter, Environmental Communication Expert, Severe Weather Specialist, Science Writer & Adventurer

Paris-based TV personality Karine Durand is a prominent on-air meteorologist for one of France's largest news channels, CNEWS. With a wealth of expertise in environmental communication, she has established herself as a specialist in severe weather phenomena such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and thunderstorms. Durand also contributes as a science writer for FUTURA, a leading science media outlet in France, and pursues her passion for exploration in vast open spaces.

In June 2021, Durand had the honor of hosting the international roundtable "Communicating climate change in the media," a collaborative effort organized by the International Weather and Climate Forum, EUMETSAT, World Meteorological Organization, and European Space Agency. This online event attracted an audience of 1,500 climate experts and weather presenters from 90 different countries.

Over the course of 2022 and 2023, Durand collaborated with prominent organizations to share her expertise. She worked with Total to deliver presentations on extreme weather and climate change, collaborated with Sorbonne University as a host for the National Science Day, and partnered with the Renault group to lead an event focused on environmental jobs. Additionally, Durand served as a host for an event on renewable energy organized by Stellantis.

Fluent in both French and English, Durand is an accomplished professional who brings her passion for meteorology, environmental communication, and exploration to the forefront of her work.

Speech Topics


Being a Solo Female Adventurer and Finding Your Work Purpose

When I was 25 years old, I decided to stay a few weeks in a traditional cattle ranch in Montana. Traveling by myself from France, this life changing experience helped me to have a different perspective on my job as a severe weather expert and TV presenter. I had to drive cattle horseback in difficult rocky mountains environments and extreme climates, something that I now do once or twice a year since my first trip. I learnt about something that now drives my whole carrier : working with nature, and not against nature. We can better adapt to climate change weather disasters using the Nature Based Solutions. Before this experience, I used to talk about severe weather and their impacts, never about what we can do. Being in the wilderness with all kinds of extreme weather, in Montana and Arizona, working with farm animals, learning how to take care of the land, told me how to use my weather knowledge & communication skills in a positive way. Let me share all of this with you.

  • Benefits of solo travel in a foreign country & in the wilderness

  • Nature Based Solutions for climate change disasters

  • How working with the land can help you develop a new perspective

Communicating Climate Change in the Media

In a changing world with so much negativity about our future, how can we shape the message on global warming and environmental care? I got the opportunity to work with worldwide TV hosts and on-air meteorologists across several international events organized by International Weather and Climate Forum, EUMETSAT, World Meteorological Organization and European Space Agency. In 2021, I was chosen to host the international roundtable “Communicating climate change in the media” for an audience of 1500 TV & climate experts from the 5 continents. For this workshop I got to work with weather, climate & media experts from France, England, Denmark, South Africa, USA, Puerto Rico & India. I travel regularly to meet other professionals and I’m frequently invited to climate events to talk about the USA/Europe differences in climate change communication.

When media talk about climate change, they mostly talk about the threat : however, research shows that risk perceptions are only useful motivators for behavior if there is something people feel they can do to reduce the threat. Some errors have been made in the past about climate communication, by media, politics, and environmental organizations. Climate speech can sometimes leads to a bad feeling for many people, a feeling of rejection, because climate has been associated with laws and regulations for a long time, that's why we need to think about solutions in terms of things that don't engage people's concerns about individual freedom. When there is a threat, we need to talk about the solutions, and to talk local. That’s an important part of the role of TV hosts and on air-meteorologists, and I’m one of them.

Key Takeaways:

  • Bringing people together to discuss a "negative" subject such as climate change

  • How Meteorologists & TV hosts need to address the topic of climate change

  • The differences of climate change communication at an international level

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