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Covering Climate Now is pleased this week to announce the finalists for the 2023 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards, now in its third year, honoring the best coverage from around the world of the climate emergency and its solutions.
A panel of distinguished judges selected 76 finalists from nearly 1,100 entries, representing news outlets from six continents, of all kinds and sizes. Our judges discovered powerful reporting from the frontlines of the crisis, investigative reports holding power to account, in-depth examinations of climate change’s impacts on the most vulnerable, and interrogations of solutions that could still avert the worst.
This year’s finalists include journalists from such major outlets as CBS Sunday Morning, the Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, BBC World News, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Aktuellt/Swedish National Television, as well as smaller media enterprises, including Africa Uncensored, StateImpact Pennsylvania, InfoNile, LAist, and Grist.
“These finalists are blazing a path that journalists everywhere can learn from and emulate,” said Kyle Pope, the editor and publisher of Columbia Journalism Review, which co-founded CCNow, and who is the chair of the Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards judging committee. “Rigorous reporting tells the public and policymakers how climate change is upending our world, who’s responsible, and what can be done about it.”
See the full list of finalists here, with links to their outstanding work, and see the press release announcement here.
“The number and diversity of entries for the 2023 awards demonstrate that more and more of our colleagues are stepping up to the climate story,” said Mark Hertsgaard, CCNow’s executive director and the environment correspondent for CCNow’s co-founder, The Nation.
CCNow will announce the winners of the 2023 awards during Climate Week in September. Want to experience more great climate journalism? Check out the finalists and winners of the 2021 and 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.
To help spread the word about the finalists and their work, see our social media toolkit.
From Us
CCNow Q&A. Nina Lakhani, the Guardian’s senior climate justice reporter, talks about her approach to the beat, the necessity of covering Indigenous climate solutions, and how the language that journalists use in climate stories might inadvertently favor the status quo. Read it at Columbia Journalism Review.
Best practices en español. CCNow’s Best Practices for Climate Journalism are now available in Spanish. Check it out.
Noteworthy Stories
COP28. Climate policy experts are concerned following tensions at UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany, last week over climate financing, which could “spill over” into COP28 climate negotiations. Rich countries have failed to deliver on their promised climate funding, and were unwilling to discuss increased funding for developing countries. By Megan Rowling at Context News…
- French president Emmanuel Macron is holding a summit that ends Friday to help free up developing country debt burdens for climate financing.
- Reuters reports that large sums of the money rich countries pledged to fight climate change are going to “strange places,” including a coal plant.
Climate attribution. Thanks to major technological advances in extreme weather analysis over the last decade, scientists are able to more decisively say if, and to what extent, climate change played a role in a disaster. The studies have potential to impact court cases, the insurance industry, and public policy. By Lois Parshley at Scientific American…
- See six recent extreme weather events that scientists conclude would be “all but impossible without global warming.”
Worker activism. As part of their series on personal climate action, Grist looks into how labor unions and other organized worker groups are coming together to demand climate action in their workplaces. By Katie Myers at Grist…
Nature’s plight. David Attenborough’s new series “Our Planet II” delves into the profound impact of humanity’s actions on wildlife. “From cameras that mimic homeless bees to extremely cute chicks, it’s an honour to see these sights — but be prepared to witness humanity’s awful consequences for wildlife,” writes Jack Seale for the Guardian…
Kudos
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci did a great job connecting the extreme heat Texas is now enduring to climate change, in just a few words — and with a bell curve!
Weathercasters, this is how you do it:
“….thanks to climate change, we’re pushing ordinary events into record territory, like this one right here [the Texas heat dome].” https://t.co/vtimmWXGK8
— Jeff Goodell (@jeffgoodell) June 20, 2023
New Report
Subsidies. A new World Bank report looks at how trillions of dollars in fossil fuel, farming, and fishing subsidies are severely harming people, Earth, and economies by degrading natural assets. Read it.
Events
Climate justice. The Behavior, Energy & Climate Change conference is holding a webinar on climate justice lessons from Africa. June 27. RSVP.
The Center for Media Engagement held a webinar on “Reporting Climate Justice: Grassroots Efforts, Resistance, and Radical Change.” Watch the recording.
Auto workers. World Resources Institute is hosting a webinar on the “The New Electric Economy: Supporting America’s Auto Workers in the EV Transition.” June 27. RSVP.
Food & Ag. The 19th will hold a conversation with prominent voices in food and agriculture to discuss gender equity, climate change, and the future of food. June 28. RSVP.
Public health. The Lancet is hosting a webinar for journalists interested in the interconnected issues of climate change and public health, exploring how voices from the healthcare sector can be better heard in climate negotiations. June 29. RSVP.
Industry News
Carbon Brief’s “China Briefing,” which won a 2022 Covering Climate Now Journalism Award for best climate newsletter, is back. The newsletter explains the most important climate and energy stories unfolding in China for a Western audience. See the latest issue.
Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. The Associated Press is hiring a Spanish-language climate reporter. The Xylom is hiring a newsroom fellow. The Pulitzer Center is recruiting an environmental investigations program coordinator.
Reporting grants. The Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for a new reporting initiative focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work. Learn more.
Earth Journalism Network is offering grants for journalists from Indigenous and ethnic minority groups to produce in-depth stories highlighting climate justice, biodiversity and other issues related to Indigenous peoples and communities. Deadline: July 3. Learn more.
Awards. The European Journalism Centre is accepting submissions for their inaugural climate journalism awards. Deadline: July 17. Learn more.