I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

Last week, we held our latest Dirty Data Study Session, focusing this time on Reporting Data Centers in South America, with journalists Aramis Castro and Naira Hofmeister. Watch the recording below.

This is part of our most recent global collaborative investigation on data centers, which involved over 40 reporters, photographers, editors, and designers — from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Peru, Brazil, Spain and France. If you haven’t yet, read it here.

Opportunities and Resources

A new opportunity from JournalismFund: The Invisible Life Grant will support cross-border teams investigating issues related to farm animal welfare, within and beyond Europe (deadline 27 August).

Great opportunity from National Geographic Society & The Nature Conservancy: a Community Conservation, Data Visualization, and Mapping Externship to develop geography and data skills (deadline Aug 30).

Very relevant and timely: the Pulitzer Center has a new journalist resource on How To Investigate Data Centers’ Impacts, focusing on debunking industry narratives, accessing data sources, and key questions to ask.

Another useful resource from Bellingcat shares how tools can be used to track and report wildfire damage - unfortunately useful as climate change and El Nino are resulting in historical droughts and heatwaves around the world.

The Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant is accepting application for their 2026 grant for young photographers who are 24 years of age or under (deadline 1 Sept).

Earth Journalism Network is running a virtual media workshop on mining, environment, and human rights reporting in Africa from Nov 3-5. Apply here (deadline 7 Sept).

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

Our next Study Session: In the Dark: Data Center Spillover in Asia

This Friday: Join us for the second Dirty Data Study Group, where reporters share what they found on the ground: water competition, grid pressure, and the regional fallout of a race to build out AI infrastructure.

Join to learn from journalists on the ground in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia about their reporting and the worrying pattern in all three places; communities bearing costs they weren’t consulted about.

📆 Time: July 17^th 15:00 (GMT+8)

✍🏽 Register here (and please share with your network)

This is part of our most recent global collaborative investigation on data centers, which involved over 40 reporters, photographers, editors, and designers — from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Peru, Brazil, Spain and France. If you haven’t yet, read it here.

Opportunities and Resources

Earth Journalism Network is accepting applications for Story Grants to Report on Asia’s Endangered Apes. It’s open to journalists from Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (Deadline 19 July)

Also from EJN: Media Grants to Support Coverage of Countries’ Progress Toward the 30x30 Marine Conservation Target (deadline 10 August)

The Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for its Work/Environment Reporting Grants, focusing on the intersection between labor and climate (no deadline)

ABC Australia has a great opportunity – Future Voices Program, which is open to journalists and emerging media leaders from across Southeast Asia. It’s a a leadership and professional development program for early to mid-career media professionals.

Reminder: The next deadline for JournalismFund Europe’s environmental investigative grants is August 6^th. Apply here.

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

Last week, we held our first Dirty Data Study Group Session. When our reporters from India documented what Google’s data center expansion is doing to communities there, they didn’t expect the story itself to get restricted – with our posts being inaccessible to Indian netizens on Instagram.

The session featured the journalists behind the investigation, Monica Jha and Shamsheer Yousaf, along with Naman Kumar and Jhanvi Anam from the Internet Freedom Foundation.

If you missed it, the entire recording is here.

Our next Study Session: In the Dark: Data Center Spillover in Asia

This session will focus on our investigations in Asia, arguable the center of the global Data Center surge, and where there are widespread concerns about adverse environmental, social and human rights impacts.

Join to learn from journalists on the ground in Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia about their reporting and the worrying pattern in all three places; communities bearing costs they weren’t consulted about.

📆 Time: July 17^th 15:00 (GMT+8)

✍🏽 Register here

Grantee Investigations

In addition to our global collaboration, ERC also supports investigative reporting by outlets through grants. Here are two recent stories published by our partners.

Mekong Eye looked into how a forest sanctuary was turned into a scam zone, with huge amounts of protected forest loss and illegal displacement being turned into casinos, office blocks, and more.

And from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, explores the surge in river dredging along the country’s western seaboard, which is harming rivers and coastlines, finding that they’re being run by Philippine companies, some of them formed by Chinese nationals who have recently acquired Philippine citizenship.

Opportunities and Resources

For those of you in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan or Madagascar: Earth Journalism Network is accepting applications in multiple languages for Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions Story Grants focused on supporting the production of in-depth media stories on biodiversity and nature-based solutions (deadline 30 June).

Also from EJN: Biodiversity Fellowships for Journalists to Cover the UN Biodiversity Conference in Armenia. Note: only for applications from a low- or middle-income country.

JournalismFund.EU is accepting applications for its next round of Environmental Investigative Journalism grants, to support cross-border teams of professional journalists (deadline 6 August).

The Fund for Investigative Journalism also is accepting applications for its regular and seed grants program to support high-quality, unbiased, nonpartisan investigative stories that have an impact (deadline 14 Sept).

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

When our reporters from India documented what Google's data center expansion is doing to communities there, they didn't expect the story itself to get restricted.

On June 19, we're talking about it openly with the journalists behind the investigation, Monica Jha and Shamsheer Yousaf, and with Naman Kumar and Jhanvi Anam from the Internet Freedom Foundation, who will help us understand the legal frameworks that make content restriction in India possible.

This is a free event.

📆 June 19, 1:00 PM (GMT+8) via Zoom
✍🏽 Register: bit.ly/DirtyDataStudyGroup_1

See you!

I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

Introducing Darshini Kandasamy, ERC Managing Editor

Darshini was the lead editor for Dirty Data and will be leading the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) going forward. An award-winning Malaysian journalist, editor, and media entrepreneur, she brings a wealth of experience in journalism, content, and community-building, and we’re happy to have her on the team.

What made Dirty Data feel like a story worth your time?

I was drawn both to the scale and the challenge of this project and the urgency of the subject matter itself. AI use has expanded globally and with it, we’re seeing this kind of a data center gold rush that’s happening across multiple countries and politics.

And governments are just committing to these projects with big tech with very little oversight while communities are still trying to figure out what’s going on and what this would mean to their land, their livelihood, their safety, their energy. What made Dirty Data feel important to me was that it would give us an opportunity to look beyond just isolated headlines and to show that these are not isolated incidents and concerns happening to one particular country or one particular community. It’s across the globe. Communities are being sidelined and excluded from decision-making. Environmental concerns are being downplayed.

Was there a specific country, project, that stood out to you?

It is difficult to just point out one story because so many had so many profound and troubling impact as well.

One story that did stay with me was from Mumbai, India, where members of the Dalit community, already among the most marginalized, the most vulnerable people, were being displaced, losing their homes, because of the infrastructure development around data centers. In some areas, communities were also struggling with disruptions to basic necessities, electricity, water, all making way for these projects. It’s just a stark reminder that these development, they’re not just abstract conversations about AI and AI use, they’re fundamentally reshaping people’s lives with dire consequences.

Another story that really stood out was from Brazil. Communities in Eldorado do Sul, already trying to recover from this massive flood in 2024. They’re trying to rebuild their lives, get new homes, but yet the hyperscale data center being developed, that’s being allocated space on flood safe lands. So there’s this overwhelming sense that the scale and power of these developments are overshadowing the needs and the vulnerabilities of the people that need it more.

What do you want someone in power, a policymaker, a company executive, a regulator, to do differently after reading Dirty Data?

What I would want for those in power to do differently is to ask harder questions before approving or expanding these projects. Who benefits? Who actually bears the cost? Are the communities being meaningfully consulted? Is there sufficient transparency around water extraction and energy consumption? What are the long-term sustainability plans? These concerns should be put in place first. For the communities having to live next to these data centers, I hope this reporting validates the fears and concerns that they have and legitimizes them.

A lot of them have been kept in the dark, so I hope this helps them to understand how they may be impacted and, at the very least, empower them to take necessary action to advocate for themselves and for the environment

Any thoughts or advice for journalists considering joining a collaboration like this?

I think it’s a great experience. It always helps you to be a better journalist if you get different perspectives from different countries and cultures. The only thing is you just need to prepare for the fact that there’s a great deal of patience, communications, cooperation and coordination that’s needed for a project like this.

Working with people from different countries and learning what they’re going through, its definitely worth going for it.

Dirty Data Video blocked in India

Our video, about the impacts on Dalit land and local communities of a data center in Visakhapatnam, India, taken from reporting by our partners Shamsheer Yousaf and Monica Jha, was blocked by Meta on Instagram, without any notice. It had gotten more than 2.6 million views.

Watch the full video below

ERC is calling Meta and the relevant authorities to provide greater transparency regarding this decision and to reinstate access to the video in India. See our entire statement here.

Grantee Stories

In addition to our global collaboration, ERC also supports investigative reporting by outlets through grants. Here are some of the stories published by our grantees this year.

In the Philippines, two grantees conducted two investigations. Davao Watch published an in-depth look into the National Greening Program, aimed at expanding forest cover but instead led to indigenous land loss and the conversion of forests into commercial plantation.

Meanwhile, the Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism explored the presence of Chinese vessels along the coast, and allegations that they might be dredging sand and threatening national security.

Initium Media went to the field to report on the impacts of climate change on the Bunong, who are at risk of becoming climate refugees (published in Chinese)

Meanwhile, Dawei Watch used data and remote sensing to identify illegal mining in the Tanintharyi National Park in Myanmar, and the impacts on local communities (in Burmese).

Interested in collaborating with ERC? Keep an eye on this newsletter for future grant opportunities and updates about future global collaborations.

And in Nepal, Ukaalo explores an ambitious, 3 billion tree reforestation campaign, that, despite $2 billion in loans, seems to have resulted in few, if any, actual trees being planted (in Nepali).

Opportunities and Resources

Bellingcat has put out a new guide on using Chinese social media platforms to conduct open source intelligence and reporting on the country.

National Geographic has a new request for proposals for long-form, visual driven stories on community-based coastal and riverine resilience (deadline 31 May)

Two opportunities from the Earth Journalism Network; a communicators and content creators workshop for journalists in India (Deadline 5 June) and a new story grants program to support reporting on inclusive water governance in the Mekong region (deadline 14 June).

Open for submissions; Kurt Schork Awards, which recognize excellence & courage in reporting on conflict, corruption, injustice, and human rights (deadline 14 June).

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

Q&A with Naira Hofmeister, Brazil-based Freelance Journalist

ERC’s biggest strength is our network, and in this newsletter, we want to share stories, learnings, and lessons from journalists around the world, uncovering environmental crimes through collaborative field reporting.

This week, we have a short interview with Naira Hofmeister, a freelance journalist who participated in our Dirty Data collaboration. She has been based in Brazil since 2006, covering social, political, and economic dimensions of everyday life for over 30 different publications across the world.

Why did you decide to join the Dirty Data collaboration? Why are Data Centers an issue worth investigating in Brazil?

The issue had been on my mind since 2024: that year, the state where I live, Rio Grande do Sul, was devastated by historic flooding that left nearly 300 people dead and thousands homeless. It was an extreme weather event, exacerbated by climate change. One of the worst-affected areas, where almost 90% of the population had to leave their homes, was the municipality of Eldorado do Sul, very close to where I live.

A few months after the flood, the state government announced the installation of South America’s largest data centre in this municipality, claiming it would be a unique opportunity to revive economic development, create new jobs, and so on. To achieve this, it was necessary to facilitate the project’s installation as much as possible.

But, as a journalist who has been covering socio-environmental conflicts for 20 years, I have learnt to be wary of this sort of condition imposed on governments. And, indeed, the more I read about the socio-environmental impacts of data centres around the world, the stranger this connection seemed. Especially because data centers are so intensive in energy, that could end up pushing for more fossil fuels activities, even in countries where the grids are led by renewable energy, as Brazil.

Can you share a bit about the field reporting process in Brazil? How did you engage with impacted communities, and were there any challenges in accessing data or sources?

Generally speaking, people knew very little or nothing about the project, despite the enormous scale it is expected to have. When there was any information at all, it was usually vague figures about jobs that would be created in the region, which people welcomed in the hope that it might improve the dire socio-economic situation following the floods.

ERC’s visit to the communities was important in encouraging people to start researching the matter further – following the publication of the reports, a mobilisation began among residents to demand more transparent information and commitments from the company and the government that they would adopt a more precautionary approach regarding socio-environmental impacts.

It was also extremely difficult to obtain data and documents regarding the company’s specific plans for the municipality of Eldorado. The company releases only very general information and does not grant interviews, while the state government has improperly kept confidential a memorandum of understanding signed with the company in which it promised a range of benefits – to which ERC later gained access via a Freedom of Information Act request, but only after months of waiting.

Was there anything that you found particularly surprising or shocking from your reporting process?

Right from the start, I was disturbed by the fact that many people in Eldorado do Sul had to leave their homes in the municipality because they were in areas at risk of flooding, at the same time that one of the few areas there that did not flood was allocated for the data centre.

Another important piece of information we obtained during our investigation was the memorandum of understanding signed between the state government and the data centre company: in this document, the government commits to a simplified licensing process, without in-depth environmental impact assessments, and in the “shortest possible time”. This means there is no obligation to hold public debates, nor to consult the indigenous communities living near the site where the data centre is to be built – despite Brazil being a signatory to an ILO protocol that mandates such consultation.

How did you find the collaborative process, working with ERC partners? Were there angles, ideas, or data that came via partners that ended up being useful for you?

Being part of such a highly skilled group of reporters and editors was crucial, as the subject of data centres is still very new in Brazil. At such times, my colleagues at the ERC were always a vital source for me to clarify technical queries and understand the scale of the project I was covering by comparing it to those my colleagues were reporting on.

It was also very important to read the reports from colleagues covering the topic in countries where such developments are already a reality, showing that concerns regarding water usage or the number of jobs, for example, make perfect sense, as communities in other countries feel deceived by misleading promises in these areas.

I’m looking forward to collaborating again with ERC!

Want to know more? Read Maior data center da América do Sul terá licenciamento simplificado no RS (The largest data center in South America will have simplified licensing in Rio Grande do Sul) by Hofmeister and Alass Drifts for Ambiental Media.

More Dirty Data

Thailand

Check out a new video published by our partner Mongabay on Instagram. Their investigation focused on the community impacts of more than 20 planned new Data Centers.

France

Dirty Data’s France investigation, led by Clément Pouré and Romane Frachon, has been published in L’Humanite De l’Irlande à l’Inde en passant par le Brésil, pourquoi les data centers sont devenus synonymes de désastre social et environnemental (From Ireland to India via Brazil: Why data centers have become synonymous with social and environmental disaster)

Taiwan

The Reporter published their story 台灣資料中心用電壓力大？全球AI熱潮下的區域電網新挑戰 (Is Taiwan's Data Center Facing Significant Power Pressure? New Challenges for Regional Power Grids Amid the Global AI Boom).

Peru

Our Peru story, published by partner newsroom, was republished into German by Infostelle Peru De „So etwas wie ein nachhaltiges Rechenzentrum gibt es nicht” (There’s no such thing as a sustainable data center)

All of our global stories, which explore health, water, social, and labor impacts of data centers, are available on our website.

More to come: To keep up with Dirty Data, follow our dedicated Instagram account

For editors and publishers: All Dirty Data content is available to be translated, adapted, and republished for free under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-NC 4.0). If you’re interested, respond to this email.

Opportunities and Resources

Earth Journalism Network is offering reporting grants to journalists to support the production of in-depth stories on biodiversity, for for stories focused on countries classified as low- or middle-income (Deadline 3 May).

The International Center for Journalists has a call for applications from journalists in Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa focused on literacy and numeracy reporting (deadline 10 May).

The Pulitzer Center has an open call for it Climate Digital Storytelling Accelerator, a “six-week virtual workshop helps reporters who cover climate stories for local news outlets with little or no video experience turn their reporting into engaging content for TikTok, Instagram, and/or YouTube Shorts.” (Deadline May 12)

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist, and the curator of this newsletter.

More Dirty Data

One of the strengths of our collective is our network of newsrooms and partner journalists around the world. While all of us collaborate on a global series of stories, partners also publish in-depth investigative features for their own media outlets, often in local languages. In fact, these stories often get more views and social media shares than our global story - and can have more real world impact, too.

For Dirty Data, so far, we have partner outlets publishing stories in from Europe, South America and Asia. Here is some of their reporting.

Thailand

Thai data center boom sparks fears of water shortage, air pollution by Gerry Flynn for Mongabay, exposes how residents and farmers in Chonburi and Rayong provinces are concerned about intensifying water shortages and pollution in a region already struggling with industrial impacts.

Brazil

Maior data center da América do Sul terá licenciamento simplificado no RS (The largest data center in South America will have simplified licensing in Rio Grande do Sul) by Naira Hofmeister and Alass Drifts for Ambiental Media, exposes the social and environmental risks of several planned data centers.

India

Our video report by Shamsheer Yousaf and Monica Jha has received over 60,000 views on YouTube and was shared widely in Indian social media.

Peru

La industria de los centros de datos en Perú crece sin regulación ni control ambiental (The data center industry in Peru is growing without regulation or environmental oversight) by Aramis Castro for La Encerrona found that found that Peru lacks specific regulations or environmental permits for data center companies, leading to heightened environmental risks.

@laencerrona‼️No hay regulación para los centros de datos en Lurín #LaEncerrona #noticiasperu #marcosifuentes #lurin #inteligenciaartificial

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

All of our global stories, which explore health, water, social, and labor impacts of data centers, are available on our website.

More to come: To keep up with Dirty Data, follow our dedicated Instagram account

For editors and publishers: All Dirty Data content is available to be translated, adapted, and republished for free under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-NC 4.0). If you’re interested, respond to this email.

Opportunities and Resources

Applications are open for the Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, aimed at supporting those addressing the information disorder in West Africa (deadline 4 April).

Taz Panter Stiftung is organizing a workshop for media from Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand focused on supporting the building of sustainable and digital economic futures (deadline 20 April).

Earth Journalism Network is accepting applications for story grants from coastal countries on the 30X30 target and marine protected areas (deadline 21 April).

FIRE Newsroom has an opening for Greenlight Grants to support investigative reporting. You need a newsroom to apply (deadline 27 April).

Lastly, please take care of yourself - journalism, especially these days, can be mentally and physically taxing. If you could use help, the Good Grief Network has put out a short guide with 10 steps on healing and staying resilient when facing stress or other burdens.

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

Let me (re)introduce myself, I’m Nithin Coca, a Japan-based freelance journalist. Longtime subscribers might remember me running this newsletter back a few years ago. I’m back, and look forward to re-engaging with all of you over the next several months.

While this newsletter has been quiet, ERC’s core team and partner newsrooms and journalists have been hard-at-work over the past few months on our latest investigation.

Announcing Dirty Data

This collaboration brought together nearly 40 journalists — reporters, photographers, editors, and designers — from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, Peru, Brazil, Spain and France. It examines how governments are embracing data centers, pinning their hopes on AI as an engine of economic growth without considering the strain on the environment, resources, and communities.

Our first round of stories includes

• Litigating The Boom: Taking the Data Center Fight to the Courts investigates the growing opposition to data centers due to environmental, social, labor, and economic impacts in Spain and France.

• The AI Thirst Trap focuses on ever-increasing water use as India, Brazil, Spain and France seek to become data center hubs.

• The Data Center Fever and the Mirage of Jobs finds that the promises of jobs and economic prosperity are mirages for communities in Brazil and India living alongside data centers.

• As Data Centers Arrive, India’s Poorest Face Displacement, Health Risks uncovers that communities near data centers in India are facing worrying environmental and health risks.

• Locals say they’re in the dark, even as Thailand’s data dream shines bright exposes how communities aren’t involved in data center planning and fear strain on already-stretched water and energy supplies.

• Brazil’s AI City explores how indigenous communities in Brazil fear that new massive data centers could increase flood risk and displace them.

To keep up with Dirty Data, follow our dedicated Instagram account

For editors and publishers: All Dirty Data content is available to be translated, adapted, and republished for free under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-NC 4.0). If you’re interested, respond to this email.

More to come: Over the next few weeks, partner outlets will continue to publish local and regional stories on the impacts of Data Centers around the world. We’ll share those stories here. We’ll also share Q&As and features with journalists about their on-the-ground reporting.

Get Involved: ERC is holding office hours for environmental journalists, researchers, and activists to get practical guidance from experienced practitioners, all off the record. If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form.

Opportunities and Resources

Rest of World is accepting pitches for their Labor X Tech program, for story ideas on the changing nature of work at a moment of extreme upheaval, including the impacts of AI tools and robotics.

Dark Light Viewer is a new open source tool that let’s anyone track how forests, cities, and other regions change at night over time. Can be useful to track urban development, energy consumption, or much more.

JournalismFund Europe is accepting proposals for cross-border grants for investigative journalism project (Deadline 19 March).

The Walkley Foundation is accepting applications for Grants for Freelance Journalism for individual journalists or small teams (up to four people) that focus on public interest journalism (deadline 23 March).

The Pulitzer Center’s next AI Spotlight Series will take place on March 30^th, and will focus on how editors can cover AI (deadline to apply is 16 March).

Join the ERC Slack community to meet and engage with fellow journalists and for more grants and other opportunities.

Join our Slack

The Environmental Reporting Collective is a growing network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.

To learn more about our work, check out our website, Investigative.Earth, and follow us on Instagram, Linkedin, Facebook and X.

We’re excited to announce our new ERC Office Hours, a monthly space for you to bring the real questions you’re navigating right now.

ERC Office Hours is a casual, online session where you can connect directly with advisors from our ERC network.

Each session features three advisors in separate breakout rooms, so you can choose the conversation most relevant to you.

For this March, we’re having Darshini Kandasmy of Trident Media, Jelter Meers of Putlitzer Center, and Gerry Flynn of Mongabay. Check out below for their bios and what questions to bring.

To allow for real depth (not surface-level advice), we’ll be limiting the number of participants per advisor, so it’s best to sign up early.

If you know someone who would benefit from this space, please share it with them. And if you’d like to serve as an advisor for our upcoming slot on April 30th, we’d love to hear from you. Just reach out to contact@investigative.earth.

To allow for depth of discussion and proper exploration of each question, we’ll be capping the participants at 10 per breakout room

Sign up here: https://bit.ly/ERCOfficeHours

We’re looking forward to seeing you!

ABOUT THE ROLE

ERC supports cross-border investigations into environmental crime and corruption. As our editor, you’ll coordinate cross-border investigations, edit impactful stories, and mentor reporters across diverse regions.

What we’re looking for

• Strong editing experience in investigative journalism, preferably at the intersection of environment and crime.

• Experience leading editorial teams or managing complex reporting projects

• Familiarity with collaborative or cross-border journalism

• A calm head and sense of humour - things get messy sometimes!

• Bonus: Skilled in data investigations and multimedia storytelling.

Details

• Remote, but preferably based in Southeast Asia

• Salary range: $1,700 to $2,000 a month

Send your applications to contact@investigative.earth.

Deadline: Rolling applications, until position filled.

* ERC encourages applicants from underrepresented backgrounds.

♻️ Environmental reporting from our community

💥 Ekpali Saint speaks to Niger Delta residents who are bearing the brunt of environmental health impacts with visual by Alex Ip

💥 Tanka Dhakal reports on the electrification of public and private transport in Nepal and highlights the gaps in its infrastructure and policy shortfalls

💥 Soumik Dutta looks at the issues around Sikkim’s Teesta Stage III project in India has been controversial for ignoring environmental impacts, not meeting safety requirements, design changes, and time+cost overruns.

💥 Ian Urbina and his team’s latest investigation was published in partnership with The New Yorker on the extensive use of forced labour and environmental crimes in the global seafood supply, specifically within China’s distant water fishing fleet and processing plants. The first piece focuses on at-sea issues. The second piece focuses on issues on land.

💥 Jay Richardson published a new piece about biodiversity surveys in an area earmarked for mining waste in Norway and the history of rhetoric around mining waste in the North of Norway.

💥 Gladstone Taylor recently reported for Yes Magazine about the largest mangrove forest and protected area in Jamaica. (It's part of a larger ocean reporting series supported by the Pulitzer Center)

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find collaborations

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Journalismfund is offering professional development grants to foster exemplary independent investigative journalism throughout Europe and beyond and to promote journalistic innovation. Apply here

• Pact, in partnership with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), is hiring consultants for the new Asia Investigative Reporting Network (AIR Network) program. Individual consultants, research agencies and teams of freelance consultants can apply for several remote positions. Apply here

• Midcareer journalists covering science, technology, the environment or medicine can apply for the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships for nine months of personalized study, auditing courses at MIT and Harvard, attending lectures and interviewing faculty members. Apply here

• Students from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan studying journalism, mass communication, law, cultural studies and anthropology can apply for the School of Peacemaking and Media Technology in Central Asia. Apply here

• Journalists from selected countries in the Asia Pacific can apply for story grants to support the production of stories that raise awareness of the interlinkages between human, animal and ecosystem health. Apply here

• Free Press Unlimited announces two Climate Change Fellowship Programmes for journalists in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Tunisia. Apply here

Share Green Echoes

♻️ Environmental reporting from our community

💥 Ian Urbina and his team’s latest investigation was published in partnership with The New Yorker on the extensive use of forced labour and environmental crimes in the global seafood supply, specifically within China’s distant water fishing fleet and processing plants. The first piece focuses on at-sea issues. The second piece focuses on issues on land.

💥 Jay Richardson published a new piece about biodiversity surveys in an area earmarked for mining waste in Norway and the history of rhetoric around mining waste in the North of Norway.

💥 Gladstone Taylor recently reported for Yes Magazine about the largest mangrove forest and protected area in Jamaica. (It's part of a larger ocean reporting series supported by the Pulitzer Center)

💥 Maurício Ferro spent five months interviewing many Brazilian experts in marine acoustic pollution to investigate a less-known threat and its effects on a small species of fish; published by Ocean Noise Pollution (with captions in English).

💥 María Elorza Saralegui’s latest piece on the restoration efforts to recover the lagoon Mar Menor for the BBC Future Planet.

💥 Former ERC grantees Stefano Valentino was awarded the Lorenzo Natali Prize along with Emanuela Barbiroglio for their article entitled European green finance is paying for deforestation in Indonesia: the case of Michelin

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find collaborations

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Latin American journalists looking to deepen their product expertise and develop their personal leadership skills can apply for 7 fully subsidized spots to participate in the News Product Management Certification program. Apply here

• A new year-long fellowship program by EJN for journalists will enhance reporting over four priority areas — climate change, biodiversity, the ocean and One Health. Apply here

• Climate Tracker launched their media mentorship fellowship for young journalists covering climate change and energy transition in Latin America and the Caribbean and is looking for 8 driven storytellers to join this three-month online program. Apply here

• Storytellers from and working in the Global South join the CNN Academy Climate Storytelling program, an all-expense paid opportunity to raise awareness about the profound impact of the climate crisis in their home countries. Apply here

• RSF Reporting Fellowships are inviting two journalists who have been exposed to threats and endangerment due to their work in Berlin for six months. Apply here

• The Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation is an extraordinary, transformative learning opportunity open to journalists working in all media in every country around the world. Apply here

Share Green Echoes

📣 Our grantee deliberations are close to completion and we will be announcing the selected grantees and their project ideas very soon. Make sure to stay tuned and watch this space for more.

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

Nearly half of oil palm plantations in Indonesia’s Riau province, the heartland of the commodity’s production, are illegal, according to a new report

Canada continues to demonstrate its commitment to addressing the global plastic pollution crisis and will host the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4)

Scientists warn that record-high sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean this year are having consequences for sea life

From our community

💥 Former ERC grantees Stefano Valentino was awarded the Lorenzo Natali Prize along with Emanuela Barbiroglio for their article entitled European green finance is paying for deforestation in Indonesia: the case of Michelin

Ian Urbina and his team’s latest investigation in partnership with The New Yorker, includes reporting on the extensive use of forced labour and environmental crimes in the global seafood supply, and specifically within China’s distant water fishing fleet and processing plants. The revelations have already resulted even before we published in a congressional hearing being scheduled about the findings and the CEO of a major seafood company resigning due to what we uncovered. 

Check it out: The first piece focuses on at-sea issues. The second piece focuses on issues on land.

Muhammad Daud Khan reports on the poor air quality in Pakistan and a spike in the number of patients who complain of respiratory difficulties

Aldem Bourscheit wrote a recent story about the unexpected deaths of endangered Brazilian wildlife in agribusiness irrigation canals

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find collaborations

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• The Green Web Foundation is calling for the next cohort of fellows: We are seeking five practitioners in digital rights and climate justice who want to build bridges across these movements. Apply here

• The Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is inviting journalists from South Africa to apply for a data journalism workshop to be held in Johannesburg. Apply here

• GIZ invites independent media organisations, national and local media outlets, and other media actors operating in the region of Western Balkans to apply for Grants on Collaborative Media Projects. Apply here

• The Pulitzer Center is seeking proposals to advance wide-reaching and relevant journalism on issues impacting communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Apply here

• A grant programme that supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets to conduct investigations into environmental affairs related to continental Europe. Apply here

• Internews' Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is hosting a webinar "Making Room for Civic Engagement in Natural Resource Management in the Mekong" on Oct. 26. The webinar aims to explore the diminishing civic space in the Lower Mekong region. Register here

• The Asian American Journalists Association's Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) is hosting a free, Digital New.Now.Next (N3) Salon on journalists' mental health: Coping with Moral Injuries Affecting Journalists. Register here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

📣 Our grantee interviews are going in full swing and we will soon be ready to share the ERC Reporting Grantees. Stay tuned to find out what the new cohort will be investigating and reporting about.

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

Why did the UK government allow food companies behind a major salmonella outbreak to continue supplying supermarkets even after contaminated meat had been linked to the deaths of four people and poisoned hundreds more? Read more

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across India, major mining and oil company Vedanta quietly lobbied the government to dilute environmental safeguards regulating the oil and mining industries. Read more

From our community

Tanka Dhakal’s report on flash flooding in the high mountains in the trans-Himalayan Mustang district of Nepal

Maurício Ferro’s news organization Correio Sabiá and EJN joined hands to launch Ocean Noise Pollution. Check out their Instagram for more

Muhammad Daud Khan’s latest on how women in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan are rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of devastating floods.

Varsha Singh reports on severe damage from floods this monsoon in northern India, highlighting the effects of illegal sand mining in their river basins

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find collaborations

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Reuter’s is hosting its global journalism seminars from October to December 2023 to discuss some of journalism's most pressing issues, including press freedom, and frontline reporting covering challenging beats. All seminars are free and open to everyone. Register here

• The Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN) supports a global community of reporters and editors across beats to improve the quality, understanding and impact of climate coverage around the world. Apply to participate in a six-month online programme with access to experts, workshops and a big community. Apply here

• The Michelle Lang Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for promising journalists at the beginning of their careers to grow their skills in the profession and bolster their experience with a full year working in two of Canada’s busiest newsrooms. More details here

• The International Center for Journalists is seeking an Editor to support the five-year USAID-sponsored "Mexico Border Investigative Reporting Hub" program. Apply here.

• Journalists with at least four years of professional experience residing in Latin America and the Caribbean can apply to the new edition of the ICFJ/CONNECTAS Fellowship. Apply here

• Lighthouse Reports, a nonprofit newsroom that undertakes public interest investigations in partnership with some of the world’s leading media is looking for a data reporter. Apply here

• The East-West Center announced a second cross-border journalism workshop and collaborative reporting series for ten Pakistani and ten Indian journalists experienced in reporting on climate issues. Apply here

• EcoContact is offering the Small Grants Program to support journalistic investigations that draw attention to environmental problems in and around Moldova. Apply here

• EJN is providing training for East African Journalists on how to use financial tools to investigate environmental crimes. Apply here

• The Agroecology Media Grant is seeking to support the coverage of stories that are focused on agroecology in Uganda and beyond. Apply here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

📣 We are in the final stages of selecting the next cohort of ERC Reporting Grantees. Stay tuned to find out what the new cohort will be investigating and reporting about.

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

By combining satellite imagery, AI, infrared imaging, and ship tracking data, Narasi TV investigates rampant illegal fishing practices in the country's waters

Indian journalist Sahana Ghosh argues that reporters need climate training to understand the science correctly and not spread misinformation.

From the ERC community

Pragathi Ravi and her colleague Flavia Lopes probed the reality of India's energy transition and catalogue the inequitable impact of development in Pavagada, Karnataka- home of one of the country's biggest solar parks; thanks to support from the Pulitzer Centre

Aldem Bourscheit shared his piece on the uses of açaí berry pits that are reducing environmental and climate impacts and generating jobs and income in the South American equatorial forest.

Diana Caroline Njama’s latest talks about how sustainable energy can help solve our climate and health crises

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find collaborations

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Events: The 2023 Piauí Journalism Festival will take place December 2 and 3 in São Paulo. This year's topic is "disinformation, social media and AI in an era of synthetic truth." Register here

• Rest of World is looking for a Southeast Asia editor who can manage local contributors, commission and edit a broad mix of stories, and develop ideas to build our coverage of Southeast Asia. Apply here

• The Mobile Photography Awards is a competition and touring exhibit promoting mobile photography and art. A grand prize winner will receive US$3,000, and the MPA Photo Essay winner will be awarded US$500. Apply here

• EcoContact is offering the Small Grants Program to support journalistic investigations that draw attention to environmental problems in and around Moldova. Apply here

• EJN is providing training for East African Journalists on how to use financial tools to investigate environmental crimes. Apply here

• The Pulitzer Center is seeking grant proposals to advance journalism on issues impacting communities in sub-Saharan Africa, including but not limited to water and sanitation, land degradation and coastal erosion, education, maternal health, and climate resilience. Apply here

• EJN will award grants to media outlets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan looking to investigate environmental crimes. Apply here

• The Wayne Lawler Nature Conservation Photography Grant is funding Australian photographers to support community-led conservation projects and tell stories that make a difference. Apply here

• The Melvin M.S. Goo Writing Fellowship will award US$10,000 in financial support to an individual journalist, author, or writer from the United States or China for a project that will enhance understanding between the two countries. Apply here

• The Agroecology Media Grant is seeking to support the coverage of stories that are focused on agroecology in Uganda and beyond. Apply here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

📣 We received a great response to the ERC Reporting Grant with pitches from all over the world. They are currently being reviewed, so stay tuned to find out the grantees and follow their work in the upcoming months.

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

A photostory: From Canada to China, deadly wildfires and flooding are affecting thousands of people across the world

Radheshyam Jadhav explores the "Empowerment Journalism" model's application in reporting on women's roles in climate-smart agriculture, emphasizing its potential to amplify female voices and drive meaningful change

How the Middle East is being shaped by climate change, from extreme heat to drought and flash floods

The replacement of native vegetation by crops has raised groundwater levels in the Pampas, thus intensifying floods in the South American plains

Nepal has increased its forest cover by 45.43% but there still are challenges ahead in sustaining this progress for environmental conservation

From the ERC community

Samuel Ajala’s analysis shared that using CNG to power clean transportation in Nigeria would help reduce carbon emissions. However, they noted concerns about the lack of existing gas infrastructure in the country. Also, certain drawbacks associated with using CNG as an automotive fuel are raising doubts.

Natasha Gilbert discusses concerns surrounding manganese contamination in drinking water, particularly in Pennsylvania, and the implications of the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to address this issue.

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find journalists to collaborate with

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Climate Home News seeks pitches for stories about the global renewable energy supply chain, as part of the Green Energy Frontiers project. Apply here

• A participatory event, with networking breaks, a town hall, and working sessions on key conference themes hosted by Covering Climate Now, Columbia Journalism Review, The Nation, the Guardian, and Solutions Journalism Network. Apply here

• OpenSecrets, a nonprofit newsroom that tracks money in US politics will be hosting a free, 1-hour webinar on federal and state lobbying efforts by energy and environmental interests. Register here

• Charlotte Kilpatrick, digital editor at Alliance Magazine is commissioning a series of articles of original reporting about philanthropy and climate change. More details here

• OECD is hosting the "OECD Green Talks LIVE: Taming Wildfires in the Context of Climate Change" to discuss how to prevent extreme wildfires in the context of a changing climate on Sept. 14. Register here

• Applications are open for ICFJ’s 12-week Solutions Challenge on Harnessing AI for the Truth. Work with experts from GPTZero, Adobe and Digital Forensics Research Lab on new tools and processes for your newsroom and a chance for a development grant for your project. Apply here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

The fourth essay of Reuter’s series on how to fix climate journalism discusses how journalists overcome the challenge of accessing accurate climate data in order to report in-depth on climate change and extreme weather events. Some of the others in the series are:

 On covering climate change in coal-mining Poland

 On guiding audiences through extreme weather events

 On connecting climate change to heritage and culture

 On the rationale behind the series

The Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, is also a source and transit point for illegally extracted jungle resources and narcotics, linking nine countries together. This is the Amazon underworld, where cycles of crime and destruction are fueled by a multibillion-dollar illegal trade in drugs, gold and arms.

Carbon Brief and the Reuters Institute launched the Global South Climate Database, a publicly available, searchable database with hundreds of experts in the fields of climate science, climate policy and energy from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific.

From the ERC community

Lyse Mauvais’s latest story on a city in Iraqi Kurdistan that decided to ban concrete in the 1990s, in a bid to preserve climate-resilient traditional homes.

Perseverance Javangwe’s video story on Indigenous farmers in Gokwe, the southern region of Zimbabwe engages in enhanced garden projects for income generation and household food security after their fields were destroyed by floods during the rainy season.

Varsha Singh’s report on the Gaurikund landslide in India and the questions it raises again on disaster management

Samuel Ajala reports on the rising seawater and oil pollution and how it devastates the Nigerian fishing community of Ayetoro— a town that is ready to be swallowed by the sea.

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find journalists to collaborate with

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Free online courses on digital security in seven languages. Apply here

• Local Media for Democracy is a media funding scheme that provides financial support to local, regional and community media who are struggling to serve the public interest in places where access to information has significantly decreased. Apply here

• The New York Times is looking for a stringer to help us cover Indonesia. Apply here

• The US Embassy in Manila and Climate Tracker Asia are launching its #NextGenClimateBootcamp, a fellowship program to equip young and aspiring journalists, 18 to 25, with the tools for climate reporting. Apply here

• The United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is hosting the webinar "Deep dive on nature-based solutions in urban areas". Learn more

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

For the first time, a newsroom outside India has documented on the ground the devastating impacts this “maladaptive” infrastructural intervention, set to open next year, has on Indigenous Koli fishermen -- and how they are fighting back. A report from Lotus Jetty, Mumbai, with words and images Kang-Chun Cheng and Alex Ip

Jyoti Madhusoodanan, highlights the use of hydroponics in India's Thar Desert to grow animal fodder, addressing water scarcity and improving livestock productivity. It follows Palu, a pastoralist, and her success in using hydroponic farming to sustain her cattle and preserve her traditional way of life in the challenging desert environment.

Annelies Vanbelle sheds light on the struggles faced by Ayetoro, Nigeria, a once-thriving fishing town. Rising sea levels and oil pollution are wreaking havoc on the community, jeopardizing the livelihoods of fishermen and highlighting the urgent need for environmental responsibility and sustainable water management.

In the Red Sea, the United Nations is attempting to prevent an environmental disaster by defusing a potential oil spill from the decaying FSO Safer, an abandoned oil tanker carrying 1 million barrels of crude. Saqib Rahim discusses the efforts made by the UN and the challenges they face in mitigating the risk posed by the tanker, which could cause extensive ecological and economic damage if it spills its cargo.

In Nigeria's Cross River State, the Small Mammal Conservation Organisation (SMACON) is taking action to prevent wildfires caused by farmers during the dry season, which threaten biodiversity and ecosystems in the area. Ekpali Saint highlights SMACON's dedication to protecting endangered species and preventing wildfire events in the region.

Grängesberg Exploration, a prospective owner of the Sydvaranger iron ore mine in Norway, is considering disposing of waste in a protected National Salmon Fjord, despite criticism from marine scientists. This article sheds light on the environmental concerns surrounding the mine's waste disposal plans.

🚀 ERC’s Collaborative Reporting Grants

The ERC Collaborative Reporting Grants 2023 is now open for application. Designed to support journalists working together on tracing environmental crimes across borders, we seek to support teams to bring out the most pressing environmental issues of our times.

In 2022, ERC supported nine teams of reporters working from more than a dozen countries to uncover environmental issues across the globe. In the latest round, ERC seeks to support similar stories as well as reports specific to sand mining as a follow-up to Beneath the Sands.

The grants are aimed at promoting collaborations to allow journalists from different countries to fill in gaps in each others’ reporting. Applications must include at least two journalists or news outlets from different countries or regions. Freelance journalists are welcome to apply.

If you’re interested and ready to apply, please prepare the following:

• A one-page story proposal with details of your idea and reporting plan. The proposal must emphasize what will be new or revelatory about your story and how each reporter will contribute to the story. 

• A budget that lays out the anticipated expenses for the project. This may include fees for records requests, travel and lodging, and a stipend for freelance reporters. Please download and use ERC’s budget template here.

• Resumes for each journalist with links to previously published reports and at least two professional references.

• For media outlets, data about your reach, audience, and links to previous investigations. Note: News outlets are strongly encouraged to sign up as a partner newsroom with ERC before or when applying, but it's not required and will not jeopardize their application.

• For staff writers, a letter of support from an editor in your newsroom.

• For freelance journalists, a letter of interest from a news outlet willing or committed to publish your story.

Looking for inspiration? Check out some of our grant-funded stories from the last cohort:

• Choking Kurdistan

• Criminal borders

• Refugees claim gas flaring cancer link in Northern Iraq

• Kenya, Uganda struggling to stop illegal fishing in Lake Victoria

• “Our Life is Wasted”: On Melting Glaciers and Gender Roles

• How Unregulated Tourism Means for the Future of the Himalayas

• Kashmir: How Glacier Melt Is Triggering a Change in Land Use Patterns

• European green finance is paying for deforestation in Indonesia: the case of Michelin

The deadline for applications for Collaborative Reporting Grants is August 15, 2023. You may contact Karol Ilagan at contact@investigative.earth for additional questions.

Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find journalists to collaborate with

Join Slack Community

⬆️ Opportunities, grants, training, jobs

• Early-career environmental journalists can apply for the second cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship. Apply here

• Pulitzer Center is looking for a data-savvy journalist/ editor who wants to join our Environmental Investigations Unit to advise on data gathering and analysis strategies. Apply here

• Climate Tracker is looking for eight journalists from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela who want to tell stories about those obstructing the energy transition in the region with a desire to continue improving and growing as professionals. Apply here

• The Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) is offering scholarships to mid-career professionals to study in the Netherlands for mid-career professionals from one of these countries: Bangladesh • Benin • Burkina Faso • Burundi • Colombia • Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) • Egypt • Ethiopia • Ghana • Iraq • Indonesia • Jordan • Kenya • Lebanon • Mali • Mozambique • Niger • Nigeria • Palestinian Territories • Rwanda • Senegal • Somalia • South Africa • South Sudan • Tanzania • Tunisia • Vietnam • Yemen. Apply here

• Young and emerging photographers are invited to submit applications for the 2023 Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant. It will offer financial support, mentorship and ongoing assistance for the promotion of photojournalists’ work. Apply here

• DW Akademie is looking for podcasting trainers and coaches for various countries and regions focusing on climate change or mental health. Apply here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

♻️ Environmental reporting to take note of

We have so much in common with bears. From our mutual ability to switch between playful and fierce, to their iconic presence in myths and universal recognition, bears are a captivating reminder of our own fascinating nature. Veteran environmental journalist Gloria Dickie explores the bears we adore in her new book.

A surprising revelation unfolds as researchers find that over 50% of the world's oceans have turned greener in the last two decades, likely due to global warming. This unexpected discovery, reported in Nature, challenges previous assumptions about the timeframe needed to observe climate change's influence on ocean colour.

Unveiling a troubling reality, Cambodians are risking their lives and freedom to supply garment factories with fuel by exploiting forests. This report sheds light on the dangerous and unsustainable practices that have emerged as a consequence of the demand for wood in Cambodia's booming garment industry.

Greenpeace raises a critical concern over deep-sea mining and urges action to halt this destructive practice to prevent irreversible damage to fragile marine ecosystems through the exploitation of deep-sea minerals

Explore Israel’s approach to tackling water scarcity and its efforts to address other pressing environmental challenges. Their innovative technologies are reshaping water management and fostering sustainability in the face of environmental adversity.

From the ERC community

Muhammad Daud Khan dives into the tale of the deteriorating Upper Swat Canal in Pakistan where memories of pristine waters clash with the harsh reality of pollution. Explore the urgent need for water management and environmental responsibility

On a positive note

The discovery of valuable ore in Scandinavia looks to relieve shortages of phosphorus for decades to come. Huge phosphate deposits discovered in southwestern Norway could be large enough to supply electric vehicles, solar panels and fertiliser for at least 50 years.

Amazon deforestation drops 34% in the first six months under Lula. Government data shows a marked reduction against the same period last year, reversing the trend of destruction during Bolsonaro's reign.

🎙️ Podcast: In collaboration with the China Environment Forum at the Wilson Center and Ohio State University, this thought-provoking podcast series offers insights on global greenhouse gas emissions from food systems; over half of which come from the US and China.

The essay series features advice from alumni of our Oxford Climate Journalism Network on how to improve climate journalism, from side-stepping polarisation to connecting heritage and climate, to building collaborative networks when newsroom resources are scarce.

🚀 ERC’s Collaborative Reporting Grants

The ERC Collaborative Reporting Grants 2023 is now open for application. Designed to support journalists working together on tracing environmental crimes across borders, we seek to support teams to bring out the most pressing environmental issues of our times.

In 2022, ERC supported nine teams of reporters working from more than a dozen countries to uncover environmental issues across the globe. In the latest round, ERC seeks to support similar stories as well as reports specific to sand mining as a follow-up to Beneath the Sands.

The grants are aimed at promoting collaborations to allow journalists from different countries to fill in gaps in each others’ reporting. Applications must include at least two journalists or news outlets from different countries or regions. Freelance journalists are welcome to apply.

If you’re interested and ready to apply, please prepare the following:

• A one-page story proposal with details of your idea and reporting plan. The proposal must emphasize what will be new or revelatory about your story and how each reporter will contribute to the story. 

• A budget that lays out the anticipated expenses for the project. This may include fees for records requests, travel and lodging, and a stipend for freelance reporters. Please download and use ERC’s budget template here.

• Resumes for each journalist with links to previously published reports and at least two professional references.

• For media outlets, data about your reach, audience, and links to previous investigations. Note: News outlets are strongly encouraged to sign up as a partner newsroom with ERC before or when applying, but it's not required and will not jeopardize their application.

• For staff writers, a letter of support from an editor in your newsroom.

• For freelance journalists, a letter of interest from a news outlet willing or committed to publish your story.

Looking for inspiration? Check out some of our grant-funded stories from the last cohort:

• Choking Kurdistan

• Criminal borders

• Refugees claim gas flaring cancer link in Northern Iraq

• Kenya, Uganda struggling to stop illegal fishing in Lake Victoria

• “Our Life is Wasted”: On Melting Glaciers and Gender Roles

• How Unregulated Tourism Means for the Future of the Himalayas

• Kashmir: How Glacier Melt Is Triggering a Change in Land Use Patterns

• European green finance is paying for deforestation in Indonesia: the case of Michelin

The deadline for applications for Collaborative Reporting Grants is August 15, 2023. You may contact Karol Ilagan at contact@investigative.earth for additional questions.

We will also be hosting a Slack AMA and a Zoom session to answer all your questions about the Grants Programme. Stay in the loop and join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists and find journalists to collaborate with

Join Slack Community

Opportunities

• The Thomson Foundation has announced the opening of the Young Journalist Award 2023, as highlighted in their latest article. Don't miss the opportunity to showcase your talent and compete for this prestigious award, which recognizes excellence in journalism. Apply here

• Are you a writer seeking a unique residency opportunity? The Jan Michalski Foundation is now accepting applications for their writing residencies with a special focus on writing about ‘nature’. Immerse yourself in a serene and inspiring environment while honing your craft. Apply here

• India’s Behanbox needs an audience and community manager. Your job is to “find, build and nurture our community who will shape the conversations on gender issues and build a momentum for change”. This role is open to women, non-binary, and trans persons only. Apply here

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes

Environmental reporting to take note of

The ISSB releases groundbreaking sustainability reporting standards, including requirements for disclosing sustainability-related financial information and climate-related disclosures.

What ESG investors must demand for credible sustainability reporting: As ESG assets under management have surpassed $35 trillion worldwide, some companies use greenwashing tactics to attract investment.

Gladstone Taylor continues his compelling series on Ocean Solutions, supported by the Pulitzer Centre, focusing on Jamaica's mangroves. Explore the devastating deforestation and the remarkable efforts of the Alligator Head Foundation to restore, nurture, and raise awareness about their invaluable importance.

Jay Richardson writes how Nordic Mining’s planned Engebø project waste, set to be deposited in the ecologically protected Førdefjord in Western Norway, could smother a deep water habitat comparable in size to some of the world’s major metropolitan areas.

Discover Enkuye Yizengaw's intriguing account of flippant physicians dealing with a grave illness affecting Lake Tana.

ERC’s Collaborative Reporting Grants

The ERC is now again accepting applications for its Collaborative Reporting Grants to support journalists working together on tracing environmental crimes across borders.

In 2022, ERC supported nine teams of reporters working from more than a dozen countries to uncover environmental issues across the globe. In the latest round, ERC seeks to support similar stories as well as reports specific to sand mining as a follow-up to Beneath the Sands.

The grants are aimed at promoting collaborations to allow journalists from different countries to fill in gaps in each others’ reporting. Applications must include at least two journalists or news outlets from different countries or regions. Freelance journalists are welcome to apply.

If you’re interested and ready to apply, please prepare the following:

• A one-page story proposal with details of your idea and reporting plan. The proposal must emphasize what will be new or revelatory about your story and how each reporter will contribute to the story. 

• A budget that lays out the anticipated expenses for the project. This may include fees for records requests, travel and lodging, and a stipend for freelance reporters. Please download and use ERC’s budget template here.

• Resumes for each journalist with links to previously published reports and at least two professional references.

• For media outlets, data about your reach, audience, and links to previous investigations. Note: News outlets are strongly encouraged to sign up as a partner newsroom with ERC before or when applying, but it's not required and will not jeopardize their application.

• For staff writers, a letter of support from an editor in your newsroom.

• For freelance journalists, a letter of interest from a news outlet willing or committed to publish your story.

Check out some of the former grant-funded stories for inspiration:

• Choking Kurdistan

• Refugees Claim Gas Flaring Cancer Link in Northern Iraq

• Kurdistan Regional Government likely to miss flaring phase-out deadline, satellite data suggests

• “Our Life is Wasted”: On Melting Glaciers and Gender Roles

• Himalayan Water Stress Boosts Sustainable Agriculture

• How Unregulated Tourism Means for the Future of the Himalayas

• Kashmir: How Glacier Melt Is Triggering a Change in Land Use Patterns

The deadline for applications for Collaborative Reporting Grants is July 31, 2023. You may contact Karol Ilagan at contact@investigative.earth for additional questions.

Or join the ERC Slack community to connect with the ERC team and also meet and engage with fellow journalists + more grants and other opportunities.

Join Slack Community

Opportunities

• BBC is looking for a designer for their Visual Journalism team.

• The Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP), led by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN) and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, has announced the CCMP COP28 Reporting Fellowship Program for journalists interested in covering the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28).

• The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge is starting a new programme of funded Visiting Fellowships for scholars from the Global South.

Data, Resources and Training

• Exploring the impact of climate change on women, in this webinar, speakers shared first-hand experiences and research on the effects of climate change on women, providing examples of the challenges women face in vulnerable countries and the solutions under development to address them.

• 2023 Global Investigative Journalism Conference. 19-22 September 2023, Gothenburg, Sweden. Register here.

• IDEA Talk, which begins a new EJN webinar series, explores the impact of climate change on women and how they are leading the charge for climate action and adaptation.

If you find Green Echoes useful, help us spread the word

Share Green Echoes