Climate Tracker is launching a very exciting opportunity for young journalists in South Asia. Five emerging environment journalists will be selected from different countries in the region to report extensively on the topic of fossil fuels and energy transitions. Your reporting can win you the chance to attend COP25 in Chile this December.
They’re looking for people who are deeply committed to writing about climate change and the environment and can get their articles published through a regional, national or international media organisation.
Applications Close: 24 June 2019
Shortlisting candidates and Interviews: June 24-29
Announcing winners: July 3
Fellows to start working on stories: July 8
WHY JOIN THEM?
They are creating a South Asia regional Hub englobing India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan that will largely be focusing on bringing attention to major coal and fossil fuel projects.
There is a massive growth in coal plants, with an even larger amount in the pre–permit stage, largely due to investments coming from the Chinese investment belt.
Between 2016 and 2019, China invested US$2.59 billion in Pakistan, US$2.55 billion in Sri Lanka, US$1.34 billion in Nepal and US$2.10 billion in Myanmar.
The government in Bangladesh, for instance, is aiming its energy growth on coal–based power increasing from 2% to over 50% of the country’s electricity supply by 2022.
These countries are not only homes to major fossil fuel projects, but also critical windows of influence where journalism can influence public opinion and policy.
By working closely with journalists in the region we aim to put the dirty power investments on the media agenda and demonstrate any opportunities to invest in cleaner sources of energy.
RESPONSIBILITIES
– Cover the unexplored angles of coal projects – their impacts, repercussions; business narratives on energy transitions; features on how fossil–fuel projects are crippling biodiversity and livelihoods. You could look at the damages made/ to be made by these investments).
– Publish at least 2 articles a month
– Include at least 2 images or graphics (data sets, infographics such as maps, charts, pie diagrams, etc) in your stories
– For online journalists– including multimedia elements in your stories
–Pitch your stories on current pegs. You can explore different formats of reporting
ELIGIBILITY
– You need to be a journalist in the 18–30 age group. If you are older but want to apply for this opportunity, we encourage you to go ahead and apply.
– Minimum of 2 years of experience in covering the environment beat
– Should hail from one of these countries: India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan
– Must be a full–time or an active freelance journalist
WHAT WILL THEY OFFER?
The hub will be like a classroom of young journalists where they get a chance to learn and grow with their global team.
Here are some of the factors that tell you how you shall grow and learn in the next 6 months:
– Weekly brainstorming session for getting new story ideas
– Fine–tune your story pitches and briefs before presenting them to your editor
– We will be closely working with you in structuring, editing and giving a final touch to your articles
– Get help while facing challenges with resources for data-intensive stories
– Access our toolkits that will educate you about the beat
– Attend the workshops, webinars, conferences that we organise on various climate change topics (this will be a great chance for you to meet new people, including researchers, scientists and other journalists).
– A stipend of $50 USD per month
– Stand a chance to win an all–paid trip to attend COP25 in Chile, December 2019
– Participate in international campaigns/ contest, get published in a foreign publication, work on research reports that will strengthen your portfolio.
HOW IS WORKING IN CT?
A young organisation – want to work in a ‘start–up‘ – well, we‘re still going strong after 4 years, but we basically operate like one
A chance to work on groundbreaking campaigns – we specialise in working in with young communicators on the cutting edge of their Climate debates
Real growth opportunity – a lot of our past CT fellows have gone on to win international awards, fellowships and scholarships.
Here’s what CT has done so far:
2015: http://climatetracker.org/what–we–did–in–2015/
2016: http://climatetracker.org/what–we–did–in–2016/
2017: http://climatetracker.org/year–climate–tracker–2017/
2018: http://climatetracker.org/what–did–we–do–in–2018/
Video Explainer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFfVfPXLgG8