For release: September 17, 2026
Press contact: awards@coveringclimatenow.org
Covering Climate Now Announces Winners of the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards
Today, the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now announced 49 winners of the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards.
Now in its sixth year, the CCNow awards program is a globally-recognized standard for excellence in climate storytelling. The winners hail from around the world, from outlets big and small, and, together, their work represents a model for journalists everywhere working to tell the biggest story of our time.
“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,” said CCNow co-founder Kyle Pope. “This work offers a blueprint for re-engaging with the climate story.”
See all of 2026’s winners at coveringclimatenow.org/awards
For 2026, CCNow received more than 1,200 entries, from journalists in dozens of countries and representing every corner 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.
Judges named up to three winners in each of 14 subject-based categories, as well as three entries in a category for large projects and collaborations and three Emerging Journalists of the Year.
In addition, 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 has further issued 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.”
Outlets represented among the other winners include global mainstays, like The Associated Press and the BBC World Service; local flagships, like the Miami Herald; climate and environment–focused outlets, like Grist, Carbon Brief, and Canary Media; and newsrooms on the front lines of the climate crisis, including Kenya’s Nation Media Group, Mexico’s El Universal, and Brazil’s Agência Pública.
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.
Covering Climate Now is a global journalism nonprofit that supports, convenes, and trains journalists and newsrooms to produce rigorous climate coverage that engages audiences. More information at coveringclimatenow.org.