Deadline: 10-Jun-23

The Earth Journalism Network (EJN) has launched the fellowship for Journalists to cover the GEF’s Seventh Assembly, which will be held from August 22-26 in Vancouver, Canada, will strengthen journalists’ capacity to cover real-time changes to global environmental and climate financing instruments and their implications.

The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides funding to assist low- and middle-income countries in meeting the objectives of international environmental conventions such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Selected journalists will get a front-row seat as more than 1000 attendees from around the world, including ministers, prominent environmentalists, government officials, business leaders, leaders of GEF agencies, civil society representatives and Indigenous Peoples, gather to make progress on adaption strategies, private sector engagement, financing solutions, and to forge new partnerships focused on addressing the drivers of ecological challenges under the overarching theme of “Healthy Planet, Healthy People.”

The conference will include high-level roundtables, a Civil Society Forum on August 23, side events, and offer opportunities for participants to engage in environmental activities close to Vancouver.

Supported by the GEF, this opportunity enables journalists from low- and middle-income countries – which bear the brunt of climate impacts and are targeted recipients of GEF investments – to cover the Seventh Assembly of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), keeping their home audiences informed about environmental financing and governance. With the support of EJN mentors, fellows will report on these high-level decisions, interview experts to learn how outcomes will affect their countries’ policies and priorities and affect local communities.

Fellowship Logistics  

• Eight journalists will be selected for the fellowship. In the leadup to the Assembly, EJN will share resources and tools with fellows to help prepare for reporting at the conference. While in Vancouver, fellows will participate in a series of specially designed activities, including an orientation on the key issues covered at this Assembly, daily briefings and interviews with high-level officials. They will be mentored by EJN trainers, who are senior journalists with experience in covering international environmental conferences. Trainers will offer valuable insight into the deliberations happening on the ground, and share feedback and guidance as needed to support Fellows’ story production. Fellows will also engage with their cohort and exchange ideas for effective reporting.
  • Format and language of publication: Journalists may produce stories in print, online, radio or broadcast formats. Stories produced as a result of this fellowship can be in any language. They ask that fellows provide summaries of their stories in English and translate at least one of their stories into English so it can be shared with a wider audience.
  • Acknowledgement of support: They fully respect journalists’ editorial independence, and throughout the conference, journalists are free to report as they see fit. They do ask, however, that published stories and/or broadcasts disclose EJN support by including this tagline: “This story was produced as part of a reporting fellowship to the Seventh GEF Assembly supported by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.”
  • Republication rights: Those who are awarded grants are free to publish or broadcast stories produced as a result of the fellowship first in their affiliated media as long as Internews’ EJN, its partners and the grant funders are also given rights to edit, republish, broadcast and distribute them freely.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the fellowship, the applicant must:

• Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house from a low- or middle-income country.
• Have previous experience reporting on environmental issues. Experience covering climate and environmental financing is a plus.
• Have good command of the English language.
• Be available to arrive in Vancouver by August 21, 2023 and commit to staying to cover the full week of the Assembly and participate in all fellowship activities.
• Provide a letter of support from an editor or media outlet, committing to publish or broadcast any stories produced as a result of this fellowship. This is expected of both staffers and freelancers.
• Submit recent, relevant samples of their journalistic work, which can be uploaded as documents or web links. Work samples can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis.
• Journalists can be of any age, but preference will be given to youth journalists (age 35 and under).

For more information, visit Earth Journalism Network.