A painstaking investigation into South Florida’s widening flooding crisis, which is far worse than government data let on. A sprawling, on-the-ground look at the toll power-hungry, water-guzzling data centers are taking all across Asia. The inspiring story of Congolese researchers striving to enter data about the critical but little-studied Congo Basin into the global record. These stories are among the winners, announced today, of the 2026 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.
In the sixth year for these awards, we received more than 1,200 entries, from journalists in dozens of countries who represent all corners of the climate journalism profession. Winners were selected by a judging panel of 120 distinguished journalists from more than 30 countries, many of whom are past winners and finalists of these awards themselves.
Our awards this year come at a precarious time not just for the climate but for journalism. In the words of CCNow co-founder Kyle Pope, “Lifting up excellence in climate reporting is particularly important this year, as some newsrooms around the world have retreated from climate coverage even as the effects of a warming planet become more urgent. This work offers a blueprint for re-engaging with the climate story.”
In addition to winners in a range of subject categories, judges named three Journalists of the Year. They are: Kim Min-wook, an innovative broadcast journalist and filmmaker at South Korea’s prominent MBC News; Roli Srivastava, founder and editor of The Migration Story, an outlet covering India’s enormous migrant labor force through a climate-change lens; and Sammy Roth, who in 2025 founded the culture-centric newsletter Climate-Colored Goggles, following a pioneering stint at the Los Angeles Times. In addition to their exceptional reporting, each of these awardees is an active participant in the broader journalism and climate communities, serving with various professional organizations, providing climate expertise to decision makers and the public, and mentoring younger journalists.
CCNow is further issuing its second-ever Lifetime Achievement award, a special honor for a journalist who has had a longstanding and transformative impact on our profession. This year’s recipient of the award is Fiona Harvey, of The Guardian.
“It’s a joy for CCNow to celebrate three colleagues — Kim Min-wook, Roli Srivastava, and Sammy Roth — who exemplify the same commitment to excellence and service to the public demonstrated by the Journalist of the Year winners who came before them,” said CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard. “And we’re particularly proud to give CCNow’s second Lifetime Achievement award to Fiona Harvey, who, for decades, has told the climate story with exceptional rigor, panache, and impact, while never losing sight that it is fundamentally about people and the future we all will inhabit.”
Of special note, the CCNow Journalism Awards are made possible this year by generous support from two organizations: In memory of Ginny Michaux, the Journalists of the Year category is sponsored by the Michaux Family Foundation, which also supported the creation of these awards in 2021. The Solutions category is sponsored by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. YPCCC conducts scientific studies on public opinion and behavior and educates the public about climate change; journalists can find the program’s signature Yale Climate Opinion Maps, in addition to other timely reports and research, here.
We encourage readers to dive into all the winning work at coveringclimatenow.org/awards.
And, on social, please help us celebrate the winners! Check out our posts on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
From Us
RSVP: Journalism Is an Effective Climate Solution. Join CCNow for a live, in-person conversation about how journalism is an effective climate solution on Monday, September 21, at the Narrative Change Summit during Climate Week NYC, hosted by Climate Film Festival.
RSVP: Suncor v. Boulder: The Climate Showdown at the Supreme Court. Join CCNow and Point Source next Wednesday, September 23, at 12pm US Eastern Time, for a timely conversation about the blockbuster climate case starting this fall’s US Supreme Court term. Join Alejandro Camacho of UCLA School of Law, Lesley Clark of POLITICO, Ishan Thakore of Colorado Public Radio, and Emily Sanders of Point Source for this live conversation.
RSVP: Betting the House: Building a Successful Reporting Collaborative. Join journalists from the new pop-up collaborative “Betting the House” (out today!) on Thursday, September 24, at 1pm US Eastern Time, for a conversation about how they organized, what worked, and how you can pull together pop-up collaborations to broaden your audience and your impact. Tracy Wholf, of WereWHOLF Media, will moderate.
El Niño ya está afectando a los cultivos y la pesca en América Latina y el Caribe. En la nueva edición de nuestro boletín en español para periodistas de todas las áreas, te traemos las claves para entender cómo puede afectar a cultivos, pesca, precios y el acceso a los alimentos en la región. Como siempre, con los recursos y expertos que necesitas para mejorar tu cobertura. Échale un vistazo a las ediciones anteriores y suscríbete para recibir el boletín los miércoles.