Members of the Climate Broadcasters Network - Europe

Mr. Jean-Charles Beaubois, Weather presenter - RTBF

Jean-Charles Beaubois began working for the Belgian channel RTBF in 1993. He had already worked for television for 8 years. He first presented programmes about the sea and environment called “Aquatica”. After “Météo Service” training, he began his career as a weather presenter.

Currently, he alternately presents the weather forecasts with Caroline Dossogne and Marie-Pierre Moulignaux.

Since September 2006, he has presented a programme about climate change and meteorology, called “Prenons le temps”. At the same time, he is developing several broadcasts about meteorology and climate change for children (8-12 years) and also for adults.

Jean-Charles Beaubois is the ambassador for the “Défis pour la terre” created by Nicolas Hulot, and he takes part in the climate change campaign launched by the European Commission.

Mr. Frank Deboosere, Weather presenter - VRT

Frank Deboosere was born in 1958 and studied physics at the Catholic University of Leuven. He has been a full-time weather presenter for VRT (Vlaamse Radio en Televisie) since 1987. The Flemish Radio and Television Network (VRT) is the public broadcasting network of the Flemish Community in Belgium.

Beside all the weather presentations, he has presented lots of scientific programmes for VRT. He has already written three books.

He has given countless lectures on weather, climate, science and astronomy for schools, public observatories, companies and planetaria. Newspapers, radio and television regularly ask him for information on the weather and climate change. Since 1984, he has been an active volunteer for the Grimbergen Observatory Volkssterrenwacht Mira. Since 2003, he has been the president of “Kom op tegen Kanker”, a charity organisation that helps people with cancer. In 2007 he gave a lecture on Climate Change for the Flemish Parliament. Currently he is an ambassador for the International Year of Astronomy IYA09.

“What do I do to fight global warming? Apart from talking about it, I think it is very important to set an example myself. That is why I actively promote the bicycle: every year I do more than 7000 kilometers with my bicycle from home to VRT and vice versa. The bicycle keeps me healthy, I save thousands of euros a year and tons of CO2. No traffic jams for me… and I can tell you it doesn’t rain that often in Belgium.

For more than a decade I have been urging people to slow down: driving your car at a maximum of 90 km/h which means less traffic jams, it saves petrol and a lot of money, and (above all) there is less pollution.

I have a website (www.frankdeboosere.be) that I update on a daily basis. There you can find a lot of info about weather and climate change, with lots of interactive graphics. Each day you can see how many kWh my solar panels have produced, whether it has rained or not, there are cloud movies, several weather quizzes, etc.”

Jill Peeters studied Geography and Meteorology at The Catholic University of Leuven. She also completed a Master's Degree in the prediction of Ultraviolet Radiation and its relation with human health.

In 2000, her dream as a child came through when she started working as a weather presenter at VTM, the Flemish commercial television channel. In 2004, she became the leading lady for the station’s TV weather shows.

Jill Peeters often writes articles about our weather and climate change. She also works on promoting scientific studies among young people. In 2005, she wrote her first book ‘Jill doet het weer’, containing answers to questions about every season. A successful story which continues in her newest book "Onze planeet wordt heet! Global warming bij ons". It was published in 2007 and is devoted to climate change.

"I joined the CBN-E straight away, because I'm convinced that weather presenters can reach and convince a lot of people. Everybody used to ask me "what the weather would be like", but more and more people want to know "what the climate will be".

What is my contribution to fighting climate change?
I've been writing articles in newspapers, on websites and forums, I’ve been helping the ambassador of Tuvalu in our country to bring attention to this issue.
I even funded an organisation named “Aqua Afrika” (www.aquaafrika.be) which helps African people who suffer from a shortage of drinking water.
I give lectures in schools, to (energy) companies and I also helped organised a climate concert. And still I’m convinced there's so much more to be done because the message doesn’t get through in Belgium. Really, we’re the worst pupils."