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This Tuesday, Covering Climate Now was thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 CCNow Journalism Awards. Winners hailed from around the world, from outlets big and small; together, their work constitutes the leading edge of climate storytelling.
For this, the fourth year of the CCNow Journalism Awards, we received more than 1,250 entries — a record for our program — from journalists in dozens of countries working in every medium.
The 2024 CCNow Journalists of the Year are: Tristan Ahtone, an editor-at-large for Grist, who spearheaded an investigation exposing how land-grant universities in the US use stolen Indigenous land to boost oil and gas production; Audrey Cerdan, climate editor at France Télévisions, who replaced the national public broadcaster’s traditional evening weathercasts with “weather-climate reports,” adding climate context to the hot-and-cold of the day — the reports were a hit with viewers, boosting the network’s ratings — and Rachel Ramirez, a climate reporter at CNN, who brought fresh stories focused on climate justice to a global audience, while also working to support fellow Pacific Islander journalists via the Uproot Project and the Asian American Journalists Association.
Outlets represented among other winners include global stalwarts, like Agence France-Presse, BBC News, and Reuters; local outfits, like public broadcasters in Louisiana and Connecticut; and many newsrooms on the front lines of the climate emergency, including Philstar.com in the Philippines, the Nigerian Tribune, Uganda-based InfoNile, and the People’s Archive of Rural India.
At CCNow, we put on these awards both to lift up exceptional work by our colleagues globally and to serve up examples to journalists interested in learning how to cover climate change. Indeed, in this year’s winners cohort, across the variety of categories — which spanned subjects including solutions, justice, politics, health, and more — journalists will discover not only the surprising breadth of the climate emergency but many innovative and captivating ways for communicating with audiences. We encourage readers to dive into the work at coveringclimatenow.org/awards.
As always, thank you to the entrants, thank you to our judges, and our heartfelt congratulations to the winners!
WATCH OUR ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO:
From Us
Extreme heat. #ICYMI, see our recent issue of Locally Sourced with reporting tips from NBC 6 South Florida’s meteorologist and climate change reporter Steve MacLaughlin, example stories, and background for covering extreme heat in your area. En español. (Sign up to receive Locally Sourced biweekly.)
2024 CCNow Awards insights. For the Guardian, CCNow co-founders Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope honor the 2024 CCNow Journalism Award winners and share key takeaways from the 1,250 entries.
Noteworthy Stories
Passing 1.5 C. In June, Earth reached 12 consecutive months above the 1.5-degree-Celsius threshold, according to a new Copernicus Climate Change Service analysis. The organization’s director, Carlo Buontempo, said the data reflects a “large and continuing shift” in the climate, which will continue, “unless we stop adding greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and the oceans.” By Ajit Niranjan at the Guardian…
Climate adaptations. As global temperatures rise, practical solutions, like an app to help escape the heat faster, a “tiny insurance” policy for heat-affected workers, and local heat protection laws for outdoor workers are emerging worldwide to protect vulnerable populations. By Somini Sengupta at The New York Times…
Olympic-level heat? While initially hoping to avoid air conditioning at the Paris Olympic Village, athletes’ concerns about above-average temperature predictions led organizers to reverse course. Olympic organizers have ordered 2,500 portable AC units for use during the games. By Harriet Reuter Hapgood at Euronews…
Climate emergency editorial. Amid record-breaking temperatures, the Los Angeles Times editorial board called on the US government to “revise its outdated view of what constitutes a disaster now that the planet is about 2.5 degrees hotter than preindustrial times and the 10 hottest years ever recorded have been in the last decade.” Read it at the LA Times…
Local flooding. CBS News Minnesota examines recent flooding events in the state, how it’s managing climate change, and evolving public views on the issue. “The number of hate messages that we get for talking about climate change has gone down significantly,” said the station’s director of meteorology Mike Augustyniak.
- The report includes Climate Central graphics on US regional billion-dollar disasters, which are available for download.
WATCH WCCO’S SEGMENT:
Industry News
AI on climate. Are pizza boxes recyclable? That’s one of the climate questions The Washington Post’s new AI chat bot answers, using information pulled from the paper’s archive. Check it out.
- See the Guardian’s explainer on how energy-intensive AI threatens Big Tech’s green goals.
Climate connection. “Journalism finds it very difficult to discuss and highlight the causes of the climate crisis” and often fails to highlight climate solutions, says Brazilian journalist Eloisa Beling Loose in an interview with LatAm Journalism Review. Loose is the author of “Jornalismos e crise climática: Um estudo desde o Sul Global sobre os vínculos do jornalismo com a colonialidade” (“Journalism and the climate crisis: A study from the Global South on the links between journalism and coloniality”).
Fossil fuel deception. In a new series, Drilled exposes fossil fuel industry tactics for promoting false climate solutions that delay legitimate climate solutions and prolong fossil fuel use.
Indigenous solutions. Vox Climate just launched a new series, “Changing With Our Climate,” that examines “Indigenous solutions to extreme weather rooted in history — and the future.”
New Report: US Urban Heat Islands
A new Climate Central analysis finds that nearly 34 million people in 65 US cities are enduring heat that is about 8 degrees Celsius higher than surrounding areas. Localized data, background information, and downloadable camera-ready maps available at Climate Central make this a great story for local journalists.
Events
COP29. Media accreditation is now open for COP29, which will be held November 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Learn more.
Climate adaptation. Climática is holding the 5th edition of “La Uni Climática” (The Climate University), with a focus on adaptation, starting online on July 15. Learn more.
Climate justice. The Center for Cooperative Media is holding a webinar, “Media narratives on environmental justice and the climate crisis in 2024,” on July 17. RSVP.
Climate Emergency Day. On July 22, Climate Emergency Day, the Climate Clock, which tracks how many years the world has to dramatically slash fossil fuel use, will tick below five years.
World’s oceans. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea recently issued a “unanimous advisory opinion on States’ obligations to protect and preserve the world’s oceans from climate change impacts.” The University of Singapore’s Centre for International Law will hold a webinar explaining the advisory on July 23. RSVP.
Via Social
American voters are concerned about inflation and climate change is a hidden factor for rising prices. Read our recent issue of Climate on the Ballot about “The Hidden Inflation of Climate Change” for background information, stories ideas, and example reporting.
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Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. Alaska Public Media is looking for a managing editor for its new initiative, The Alaska Desk (Anchorage, Alaska). The Foundation for Investigative Journalism is hiring an editor (Lagos, Nigeria). The New York Times is recruiting a reporter/meteorologist for its weather data team (San Francisco, Calif.). Propublica is hiring a senior editor, local reporting network (N.Y. or remote).
Climate & work. The Pulitzer Center is looking for proposals focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work.
African reporters. Earth Journalism Network is accepting applications for its virtual media workshop, “Net Zero in Africa 2024,” August 20-22. Entrants must be from an African country. Apply by July 23.
Photography awards. The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards are accepting submissions of photos and videos until July 31.