Covering Climate Now is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 CCNow Journalism Awards. Our awards program, now in its fifth year, honors excellent reporting on many critical dimensions of the climate story. This year’s winners hail from around the world, from outlets big and small, and, together, their work constitutes the leading edge of climate storytelling.
CCNow received more than 1,200 entries, from journalists in nearly 50 countries and representing every corner of the climate journalism profession. The winners were picked by a judging panel of 118 distinguished journalists from 32 countries and territories, many of whom are past winners and finalists themselves.
Judges selected two to three winners in each of 14 subject-based categories — for example, solutions, justice, politics, and health. Judges additionally awarded three Journalists of the Year, three Emerging Journalists of the Year, and three entries in a category for large projects and collaborations. And, for the first time, CCNow is honoring one climate journalist with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Thank you to all the entrants! And thanks to our stellar judges, whose hard work and dedication make these awards possible.
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2025 Lifetime Achievement Award
- Solutions
- Justice
- Fossil fuels
- Extreme weather and its impacts
- Politics, policy, and climate action
- Disinformation
- Business & economics
- International relations, including COP29
- Conflict & climate change
- Displacement & migration
- Forests, oceans, and the natural world
- Health
- Food & agriculture
- Climate in every beat
- Large projects & collaborations
- Emerging Journalists of the Year
This special award is given to three journalists who demonstrate exemplary commitment to the climate story. Previous winners of the award are Tristan Ahtone, Manka Behl, Damian Carrington, Audrey Cerdan, Rachel Ramirez, Amy Westervelt, and Justin Worland.
Thaslima Begum
THE GUARDIAN
Read some of Begum’s winning stories here, here, and here; and find her on Instagram here.
Thaslima Begum is a British Bangladeshi journalist covering human rights and communities on the front lines of the climate crisis — in particular in Bangladesh where, from an early age, she has witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by rising seas and extreme weather. In 2024, Begum was responsible for groundbreaking investigations, published in The Guardian, into the effects of climate change on Bangladeshi health, including: Rising salinity in drinking water leading to pre-eclampsia and hypertension amongst pregnant women; similarly contaminated water contributing to alarming rates of kidney disease; and heavy rainfall and heat resulting in a fivefold increase in mosquito-borne dengue cases nationwide. A report that Bangladesh’s climate adaptation efforts were struggling to keep up with mounting climate impacts was referenced by Bangladeshi members of parliament and used by NGOs and researchers to raise much-needed funding. Judges applauded the “remarkable granularity” of Begum’s work and her dedication to elevating often overlooked perspectives, from among Bangladesh’s most remote environments.
In addition, judges remarked on Begum’s commitment to the broader journalism and climate communities. In her work with large, well-resourced outlets — in addition to The Guardian, Begum has published with outlets like The Times and The Independent — she advocates for better use of local reporters and photographers in the regions she covers. Begum was a judge this year for the Amnesty International Media Awards, which she won last year for coverage of an international adoption scandal affecting Bangladeshi children. And she frequently serves as a mentor to younger journalists covering similar issues. “Not only is Thaslima’s reporting very strong, she’s made a remarkable effort to forward others’ journalism,” judges said.
Vanessa Hauc
NOTICIAS TELEMUNDO
Watch some of Hauc’s winning stories here, here, and here; and see all of Planeta Tierra’s work here.
Vanessa Hauc is a senior correspondent for Noticias Telemundo, director of the network’s Planeta Tierra environmental investigative unit, and anchor of Ahora: Planeta Tierra, a new weekly program launched in March to focus on climate change and environmental issues. In 2024, Hauc perhaps most notably reported on longstanding drought and water shortages in Mexico, including a tense exchange with the country’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in which he denied the existence of a crisis. Hauc has long been a pioneering figure in climate journalism, consistently advocating within her newsroom for climate change to be included among the day’s top headlines, which judges called “a tremendous service to our profession.” In 2020, she was the first climate journalist to moderate a US Democratic presidential debate, highlighting the importance of climate change to Latino voters.
Hauc was instrumental in founding and now chairs the Climate and Meteorology Task Force at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, which encourages and equips young journalists to cover climate change and elevate environmental reporting within their newsrooms. In 2014, she co-founded Sachamama — which means “Mother Jungle” in Quechua — a nonprofit working to educate the Latino community on climate issues and sustainability.
Ayoola Kassim
CHANNELS TELEVISION (NIGERIA)
Watch some of Kassim’s winning stories here, here, and here; and find more from Earthfile here.
Ayoola Kassim is the head of programs at Nigeria’s Channels Television, where she is also the creator, anchor, and producer of the network’s first environmental program, Earthfile. In 2024, among other stories, she covered workforce training in support of the green energy transition; the role of climate change in deadly floods that swept Nigeria’s Borno State; and Nigeria’s participation in global climate forums, especially the COP process. Kassim launched Earthfile in 2009, following her coverage of COP15 in Copenhagen. Since then, the program has helped set the pace for climate coverage among Nigeria’s press, gathering national awards and often being first to draw the climate connection to the country’s top headlines. Kassim’s reporting is “admirable and consistently excellent,” judges said. “For many years, Ayoola has been extraordinarily determined to get the climate story out.” Judges added that Earthfile, as a cumulative body of work, is “an incredible resource.”
Kassim is a member of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network, as well as a 2024 fellow of Clean Energy Wire’s COP29 Cross-Border Energy Transition Fellowship. She volunteers as a member of Nigeria’s National Steering Committee for the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program, a global initiative supporting community-led projects that address environmental issues, including climate change. And Kassim regularly provides expertise to organizations such as the Nigeria Energy Forum, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, and the Lagos-based Heda Resource Centre.
This special award, a first for CCNow this year, is presented to one journalist whose work has had a transformative impact on our profession.
Bill McKibben
It was thirty-six years ago, in 1989, that American journalist Bill McKibben wrote The End of Nature, the first mass-market book about climate change. In it, he warned: “Changes in our world which can affect us can happen in our lifetime—not just changes like wars but bigger and more sweeping events. Without recognizing it, we have already stepped over the threshold of such a change.” Since then, McKibben has produced more words, with more insights, about the climate crisis and its solutions than any other writer: 19 books — his latest is this year’s Here Comes the Sun — dozens of New Yorker articles, and countless other magazine pieces, blogposts, newsletters, and more. It is not an exaggeration to say that McKibben paved the way for many other journalists on the climate beat, demonstrating, as he always has, the power of telling the climate story in a way that truly connects with audiences.
Yet McKibben — who founded the environmental group 350.org and has helped organize protests against the fossil fuel status quo — makes some of our journalist colleagues nervous, straddling the world of journalism and the world of advocacy. At CCNow, we understand these concerns, but at this pivotal moment in history, when First Amendment freedoms in the US and the very existence of democracy and rule of law globally are under threat, we believe McKibben’s work should prompt a reexamination of the role of advocacy in journalism. After all, great journalists and journalism have long been accused of agenda-driven advocacy. It happened during the Civil Rights era, when journalists reporting on protest marches were accused of abetting the movement. It happened during the Vietnam War, when reporters were vilified for pointing out the Pentagon’s lies. And it happened during Watergate, when some, both among the public and the journalism industry, told The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein they had no business taking on a sitting president. Now, in the eyes of history, these moments are seen as the media doing some of its best work: telling the truth, standing up for people, and holding political leaders to account.
The same argument about advocacy has also colored how the media covers the climate story — which, for too long, was not very much. McKibben was among the first to argue that if we take science seriously, then journalists can’t apply the conventional “both sides” maxim to the climate story. Physics, after all, does not compromise, and if humanity waits too long to act on climate change, catastrophe will be unavoidable. Our profession still has a lot of catching up to do. Today, like for the past nearly four decades, McKibben’s journalism motivates and inspires. Read more…
Science is unequivocal that solutions are urgently needed to confront the climate crisis — and audiences are hungry to learn about them. Great journalism doesn’t just explain potential solutions, it interrogates them: Do they achieve what they promise, do they measure up to what science demands, and are they just? While solutions are mentioned in many climate stories, in this category, judges considered work featuring one or more solutions as its primary subject.
Discover Where Ancient Rivers Flow Under Canadian Cities
CBC NEWS (CANADA) | MULTIMEDIA
Jaela Bernstien, Emily Chung, Andrew McManus & Adam Nyx
View the winning story here.
Underneath cities around the globe lie rivers that long ago, in the name of development, were channeled into culverts and sewers, burying them away from public view and memory. But what if these once free-flowing ecosystems could be returned to life? Reporting from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, Jaela Bernstien and Emily Chung explore how rejuvenating forgotten waterways would not only be a boon for biodiversity but help cool our cities, reduce flooding, and mitigate climate change. “We all learned something new,” judges said, calling this piece “immersive, informative, and inspiring.” Top-notch visual presentation by Andrew McManus and Adam Nix makes the experience all the more engaging. “It felt like we were walking with folks through these cities,” judges said.
Resilient Schools
PORVIR (BRAZIL) | WRITING
Ana Luísa D’Maschio & Ruam Oliveira
Read the winning stories in Portuguese here.
In an impressive series, Porvir, an outlet which is tailored primarily to an audience of educators, explores a critical subject that receives too little attention in Brazil’s press: school resilience. Reporters Ana Luísa D’Maschio and Ruam Oliveira show that, in order to support young students for whom climate change will likely be the norm, schools must update their infrastructure, craft curriculums that incorporate climate change, and develop capacity to support students, emotionally and otherwise, when climate disasters strike. Judges praised the series for “getting to the heart of why this issue matters” and were impressed at the practical solutions the stories offer as recommendations to readers.
The Great Wall of Surajpura
THE MIGRATION STORY (INDIA) | MULTIMEDIA
Roli Srivastava
Read the winning story here.
In the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, the residents of one rural community have banded together to fight back against climate change-fueled drought, building water-saving walls, dams, and more to rescue their long-ailing farmland. Reporter Roli Srivastava — who in 2024 founded The Migration Story, an outlet dedicated to covering India’s vast migrant community in the context of climate change — documents the villagers’ efforts, powerfully illustrating both the promise community-based solutions and, in the absence of more robust action from authorities, their limitations. Srivastava “skillfully weaves local and global context,” judges said, all while keeping the spotlight on the human impacts of climate change. “We were blown away,” they added. “This is why we do the work.”
Climate change often hits first and hardest marginalized countries and communities that have contributed the least to the problem. While justice is mentioned in many climate stories, in this category, judges considered work featuring a justice angle as its primary subject — among them: peril and hope on the frontlines of the climate crisis, unexpected intersections of climate change with other systems of injustice, and marginalized groups pioneering solutions to show the world a path forward.
Rising Tides, Raising Voices
DISABILITY JUSTICE PROJECT | VIDEO
Jody Santos, Kevin Belli, Adriano Botega, Faaolo Utumapu-Utailesolo, Melvina Voua & Ari Hazelman
Watch the winning story here.
With the Pacific Islands region already in dire peril due to climate change, risks and consequences can be all the worse for Indigenous Pacific Islanders with disabilities. Helmed by filmmaker Jody Santos, the team of Indigenous storytellers behind this documentary — who are disabled themselves — shows how systemic oppression and a range of structural barriers not only uniquely endanger Indigenous Pacific Islanders’ livelihoods but, when climate disasters strike, can prove fatal. Judges called the film “poignant” and “essential,” noting especially its beautiful cinematography and the dignified light in which it casts sources. “By marginalized peoples, for marginalized peoples, this is journalism done the way it was intended to be,” they said.
Zambia’s Sacrifice Zone
RADIO WORKSHOP (SOUTH AFRICA) | AUDIO
Dhashen Moodley & Naomi Grewan, with Lesedi Mogoatlhe, Rob Rosenthal, Mike Rahfaldt, Jo Jackson, Sam Broun, Mo Isu, Elizabeth Njobvu, Caleb Mulenga & Kondwani Banda
Listen to the winning story here.
Demand for copper — an essential component in solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicle batteries — is on the rise, which in Zambia means more copper mining. To 18-year-old Oliver Nyirenda, whose hometown of Kabwe has long been scarred by pollution related to lead mining, that’s cause for caution. Nyirenda isn’t against mining — it’s a boon to Zambia’s economy and a living for people in towns like his — but he believes that amid the energy transition mining companies and his country must rectify mistakes of the past, by giving mining communities a seat at the table and holding polluters accountable. With heartfelt reporting by Dhashen Moodley, Naomi Grewan, and Mo Isu, this story stands out for its strongly drawn characters and thoughtful exploration of the conundrum that mining communities face in balancing matters of economic necessity with public health. Judges called the story “comprehensive,” “sincere,” and all-around excellent.
Washington’s Solar Permitting Leaves Tribal Resources Vulnerable to Corporations
HIGH COUNTRY NEWS & PROPUBLICA | WRITING
B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster
Read the winning story here.
In Washington state, near the meeting of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, a proposed solar energy development threatened more than a dozen historic and culturally significant tribal sites on a ridge known as Badger Mountain. Members of the Colville Tribes and Yakama Nation had protested to the state, which is obligated to protect such cultural resources in its oversight of development companies. And yet, as B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster reports here, the project was still moving forward — evidence, to some, of the state’s deficient, if not negligent, attitude towards tribal interests. “Meticulous” and “compelling throughout,” judges said, this impressive investigation serves up a needed reminder of the risk that injustices of the fossil fuel era will be repeated in the clean energy transition. The story had immediate impact: In response to Oaster’s reporting, state officials reopened the project survey, and ultimately the development was put on hold to address Indigenous communities’ concerns.
Journalism investigating the power and machinations of the fossil fuel industry remains as critical as ever. Here, judges considered work covering new fossil fuel development, greenwashing, government lobbying, and dubious schemes to offset emissions, among other topics focused on the industry.
Revealed: How the Fossil Fuel Industry Helps Spread Anti-Protest Laws Across the US
THE GUARDIAN | WRITING
Hilary Beaumont & Nina Lakhani
Read the winning stories here and here.
It’s getting harder for people in the US who are frustrated by government inaction on climate change to voice their opposition. In this two-part investigation — the result of more than 30 freedom of information requests — Guardian reporters Hilary Beaumont and Nina Lakhani detail how lobbyists representing major fossil fuel companies have coordinated with state lawmakers to push legislation that criminalizes peaceful protest and boosts punishments for acts of civil disobedience, with steeper fines and lengthy prison sentences. Amid record oil and gas expansion, as global temperatures continue to climb, such laws have been used to prosecute scores of environmental activists, contributing, activists say, to a dangerous curtailment of free speech. Judges praised the scope of Beaumont’s and Lakhani’s reporting, calling their work “urgent” and “powerful.” “More people need to see this,” they said.
All Gassed Up
WWNO IN NEW ORLEANS & WRKF IN BATON ROUGE | AUDIO
Carlyle Calhoun & Halle Parker
Listen to the winning stories here, here, and here.
In this three-episode series for NPR-affiliate stations in Louisiana, journalists Carlyle Calhoun and Halle Parker take a big swing at liquified natural gas, also known as methane gas, a major source of atmospheric carbon. The series starts at home, along the Gulf Coast, which is at the epicenter of an ongoing LNG boom; what has LNG meant for everyday Louisianans, especially in low-income communities and communities of color? Calhoun and Parker proceed to take listeners on journeys to Germany, which turned to American LNG after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and Japan, a longtime LNG stalwart that today is betting LNG will also dominate the future. Even as the story globe hops, judges noted that Calhoun and Parker never lose track of their stories’ local roots. Impressive narrative structure ensures cohesion across the episodes, with the result proving as informative as it is accessible and entertaining. Judges described this entry as “above and beyond.”
The Past, Present, and Contested Future of LNG Terminals Along the Gulf Coast
SIERRA MAGAZINE | WRITING
Delaney Nolan, with Julie Dermansky & Geoff McGhee
Read the winning story here.
To illustrate what the rapid buildout of Gulf Coast liquid natural gas export terminals looks like on the ground, this beautifully written story from Delaney Nolan cleverly likens the development to an aggressive disease that advances in stages. First, enormous tracts of land are paved over; second, public resources in the vicinity of new terminals, like municipal water and emergency services, are stretched thin to breaking; and third, finally, towns are all but fully displaced and former residents’ livelihoods have been decimated. Three towns in Texas and Louisiana exemplify each stage, respectively. Intimate characterization of its sources makes this story uniquely “moving,” judges said, and excellent photography by Julie Dermansky and sharp production by Geoff McGhee elevate the experience.
Stories in this category made clear the connection between weather disasters and human-caused climate change. Strong explanations of how climate factors into extreme weather — hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and extreme heat and cold, and more — as well as human-centered stories of disasters and their aftermath told with a climate lens, can help inform the public about the bigger picture.
As Drought Shrivels Hydro, Zambia Pivots to Solar
YALE ENVIRONMENT 360 | WRITING
Kennedy Phiri & Freddie Clayton
Read the winning story here.
Many of Zambia’s lakes and rivers went dry in 2024, amid an unprecedented drought across southern Africa. In a country long reliant on hydroelectric power, this prompted widespread blackouts that cut into Zambia’s economy and decimated its small businesses. A rush towards solar energy followed that is now helping to mitigate the country’s energy crisis. But will the investment in solar prove resilient in the long run? This collaboration between Zambian journalist Kennedy Phiri and British journalist Freddie Clayton “elegantly manages” its multiple challenging subjects, judges said, balancing warm human portraits — a small grocer in the capital, Lusaka, stands out — with the unique trials of a developing country and a compelling dash of geopolitics. Phiri’s and Clayton’s storytelling is brisk, effective, and ultimately “enlightening,” judges said.
Land of Resilience
THE PAPER 澎湃新闻 (CHINA) | MULTIMEDIA
Liu Dong, Diao Fanchao, Chen Canjie, Jiang Xinyi, Huang Zhihan, Gao Erna, Chen Sizhong, Wu Huiyuan & Long Hui, with Wu Yinfang, Wu Jiaying, Liu Ruilin, Cai Lin, Chao Jiasheng, Wang Yiyun, Zhang Ying, Le Yufeng, Kong Jiaxing, Lü Yan, Wang Yasai, Wang Yu & Jiang Yong
View the winning story in Chinese here.
As extreme weather becomes the norm, how can China build a more resilient and compassionate home for the future? That’s the question driving this sweeping effort by journalists at The Paper, a Chinese digital magazine known for its impactful investigations, to document the effects and aftermath of multiple climate change-fueled disasters that rocked China in 2024. Recounting in forensic detail a record-breaking typhoon in Hainan Province and torrential rains and flooding that proved fatal in Hunan Province, the story successfully weaves everything from atmospheric science to harrowing human stories and thoughtful explorations of community and governmental responses. “Remarkably thorough,” judges said, the story goes the distance to make the loss and costs of these disasters urgent and relatable.
In this category, judges considered work covering government action and inaction; policies that hold promise and ones that don’t promise enough; and the leaders who’ve fought to deliver solutions, as well as those who’ve thwarted them. Also pertinent to this category: elections, the global democracy crisis, and the roles of diverse government agencies.
Fault Lines: Deadly Heat
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH | VIDEO
Jeremy Young, Natasha Del Toro, Warwick Meade, Rodrigo Galdos, Mehr Sher, Linus Bergman, Riham Mansour & Laila Al-Arian
Watch the winning story here.
In 2023, a young Mexican man, Salvador Garcia Espitia, was harvesting sugar cane in Florida when he collapsed due to heat stroke and died just days later. Mere months later, Florida lawmakers passed legislation that banned local municipalities from enacting heat protections for outdoor workers, such as water breaks, shade, and even heat-related first aid. (A Florida newspaper dubbed it the “most shameful” law of the year.) The bill’s co-sponsor? A farmer turned state representative, who tells Al Jazeera English’s investigative program Fault Lines that heat protections are unnecessary because, in his words, the threat of climate change is “overblown.” He proceeds to intimate, in so many words, that workers advocating for such protections are lazy. In fact, 2024 was the hottest year on record, and cases like Garcia’s are increasingly common; one watchdog group estimates that as many as 2,000 outdoor workers are dying annually in the US due to extreme heat. “This piece executes at an extremely high level,” judges said. Fault Lines combines impactful humanistic storytelling, in its handling of Garcia’s and his family’s story, with hard-hitting accountability, particularly its elicitation of such unvarnished comments from the lawmaker.
Power Failure: On Landscape and Abandonment
SWITCHYARD MAGAZINE & THE FOOD AND ENVIRONMENT REPORTING NETWORK | WRITING
Mya Frazier
Read the winning story here.
Across central Ohio, long home to farms integral to the American food system, fields of crops now vie for space with sprawling, electricity-hungry data centers. Indeed, with little transparency and scant public scrutiny, Ohio’s leaders have beckoned big tech with tax breaks and steep discounts on electricity, which those data centers hoover up, along with water, in enormous quantities — cranking up demand for fossil fuels, as many of those same leaders scoff at green energy and shrug off climate change. Here, investigative journalist and central Ohio native Mya Frazier offers a travelogue of sorts, in which she paints a vivid picture of middle America’s changing landscape, exposing as she goes many of the shadowy political and economic forces that ultimately undermine climate action. With bracing narrative style and prose that judges “gushed over,” Frazier transports readers into her story’s scenes and effectively conveys the grim stakes of all this transformation for local communities and the planet alike. “Powerful, personal, and uniquely visceral, this was a cut above,” judges said.
Despite wider awareness than ever of the climate crisis, disinformation thrived in 2024. This category was for work that helps audiences parse truth from falsehood — work that debunks denial and delay, greenwashing, conspiracy theories, and more, while calling out the powerful interests responsible and the means by which disinformation spreads.
With Right-Wing Backing, New England Offshore Wind Opponents Gain Strength
WBUR IN BOSTON | WRITING
Miriam Wasser
Read the winning story here.
For Boston’s leading NPR affiliate station, reporter Miriam Wasser tells the story an unlikely fisherman’s nonprofit in Maine, which, turbocharged with funding from a prominent rightwing billionaire, ascended to become a powerful presence in the anti-offshore wind movement. Like similar outfits backed by conservative interests with ties to the fossil fuel industry, the group leveraged a large and growing online platform to spread claims about wind energy that scientists and experts say are misleading or flat-out wrong. The reporting at hand is “insightful” and “groundbreaking,” judges said, praising in particular Wasser’s deft debunking of many of the group’s talking points. Especially amid ongoing threats to wind energy from the highest levels of government, this story stands as a timely achievement.
‘Money in Exchange for Silence’: Behind Neom’s Green Image, Western Firms Cash in on Saudi Commitment to Oil
DESMOG | WRITING
Adam M. Lowenstein
Read the winning story here.
Much has been said about the Saudi government’s role in obstructing global climate action. By comparison, though, the Western advertising and public relations firms paid to portray Saudi Arabia as a climate champion have received scant scrutiny. Drawing on scores of US Department of Justice filings, journalist Adam M. Lowenstein reveals how two dozen firms in the US and Europe earned tens of millions of dollars by presenting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship Neom futuristic city as a symbol of his commitment to sustainability. Lowenstein’s investigation goes on to demonstrate that, in spite of all the green branding, Neom is in fact an asset in the Saudi campaign to sustain global demand for fossil fuels. “Well-conceived and sharply executed,” this story is a critical reminder, judges said, of the immense resources that powerful actors will bring to bear to burnish their green credentials and, in a way, hijack the global climate change discourse.
Exposing Climate Change Disinformation in Argentina
CHEQUEADO (ARGENTINA) | WRITING
Florencia Ballarino, Lucía Gardel & Delfina Corti
Read the winning stories in Spanish here, here, and here.
Latin America is among the regions most exposed to climate change, yet disinformation runs rampant, distorting public understanding of the threat and sowing doubt about solutions. In response, Argentina’s Chequeado — the first dedicated fact-checking outfit in Latin America — launched Desenmascarando la Desinformacion Sobre Cambio Climatico en la Argentina (Exposing Climate Change Disinformation in Argentina). The project not only alerts audiences to disinformation narratives but to the actors behind them and the strategies they employ, all with the goal of equipping audiences to recognize false narratives and foster a healthier public discourse. Articles judges reviewed took up Argentinian president Javier Milei’s claims that climate change is not human-caused (false); viral social media posts claiming the World Health Organization was using climate change to enact a mass vaccination campaign (false); and posts claiming the earth’s ozone layer had permanently recovered (false) and dismissing the need for climate action (still necessary). Judges called the work “cogent, clear, and convincing.”
In the race towards a clean energy economy, what businesses are thriving, and which are faltering? What policies and banks are helping spur the transition, and who’s doubling down on fossil fuels? And critically, amid such rapid change, who’s gaining work and who’s losing it? This category was for all things related to business and economics, from the financial burden of climate disasters to the opportunities of climate action.
Fast Fashion Is One of the World’s Most Polluting Industries. Its Global Workforce Is Paying the Price.
THE FULLER PROJECT & GRIST | WRITING
Louise Donovan, Snigdha Poonham & Albert Oppong-Ansah
Read the winning story here.
The fashion industry is a major climate polluter, responsible for more carbon emissions than international aviation and shipping combined. Here, The Fuller Project investigates how our changing climate comes back to weigh on the industry’s notoriously mistreated workers — who, now, in addition to manifold labor violations, must cope with heat stress and many other forms of extreme weather. Reporters Louise Donovan, Snigdha Poonham, and Albert Oppong-Ansah track goods from brands like Walmart, H&M, Gap, and Old Navy through their respective supply chains, finding workers — predominantly women — pushed to and beyond their physical limits, with negligible protections from employers. Judges cheered the team’s focus on a critical yet largely unexplored angle of the fast-fashion story. “Powerful” and “diligent” on-the-ground reporting, they said, catapults this story above the pack.
Climate Change Is Making Salt Harder to Produce
SCROLL.IN (INDIA) | WRITING
Vaishnavi Rathore
Read the winning story here.
Gujarat state, in northwest India, accounts for some 85% of India’s total salt production, with that salt going into food, of course, but also fertilizer, paint, and more. But, in recent decades, the nearby Arabian Sea has seen a more than 50% rise in cyclonic storms, as well as major increases in their duration and intensity. For the salt industry, which benefits from the region’s historically dry and sun-drenched conditions, this spells disaster, not just for the region’s economy but for the livelihoods of Gujarat’s small-scale salt miners — not to mention the follow-on effects for India’s food system. Judges called reporter Vaishnavi Rathore’s work “original and illuminating,” remarking on the sharp connection she draws between local climate data and the anecdotal experiences of impacted laborers.
Energy Transition: A Sure Way of Addressing Zambia’s Power Deficit
DAILY NATION (ZAMBIA) | WRITING
Simon Muntemba
Read the winning story here.
Across Zambia, prolonged intermittent blackouts — brought on by climate change-fueled drought, in a country largely dependent on hydroelectric power — have pushed many already vulnerable Zambians to the edge. In its rationing schedule, the state-run power company promises up to three hours of electricity daily, yet many businesses and residents are in the dark for days. Reporter Simon Muntemba illustrates in intimate detail the devastating consequences the blackouts hold for Zambians, including a butcher, a hairdresser, a welder, and more, as well as their families. Muntemba skillfully bridges to the urgent necessity of renewable energy, which he explains will not only help to secure his country’s energy grid but reduce its carbon footprint and enable much-needed economic growth.
In this category, judges considered work primarily related to the 2024 UN climate summit in Azerbaijan. How is climate change pushing countries apart or bringing them closer together? And what stands in the way of countries making good on global climate commitments?
‘We Lost’: How COP29 Ended With a Deal That Made the Whole World Unhappy
GRIST | WRITING
Jake Bittle
Read the winning story here.
“Gripping” is how judges described this in-depth, moment-by-moment account of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, long-billed as “the finance COP” due to its intended focus on securing new funding goals to help developing countries fight climate change. Following alongside well-characterized political leaders and negotiators, reporter Jake Bittle illuminates in laudable detail how the money talk turned toxic, exposing in particular the gamesmanship that wealthy parties — especially the US, the UK, and the European Union — employed to mute more vulnerable countries’ demands. Bittle expertly distills the many perspectives present in Baku, while also placing 2024’s proceedings in the effective context of the COPs before it. Elevated by sharp and animated prose, Bittle’s work represents perhaps the definitive and most accessible account of COP29, for readers at all levels of climate change expertise.
In Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s Net Zero Vision Clashes With Legacy of War
CLIMATE HOME NEWS (UK) | WRITING
Matteo Civillini, with Sebastian Rodriguez, Joe Lo & Megan Rowling
Read the winning story here.
Eager to burnish its green credentials in advance of COP29, host country Azerbaijan was heavily promoting a newly-constructed “smart village” in Nagorno-Karabakh — at least until Climate Home News took Azerbaijan up on a press tour of the region. Not incidentally, Nagorno-Karabakh is the site of recent conflict that claimed the lives of some 7,000 ethnic Armenians and saw 136,000 more flee, in what the European Parliament deemed “ethnic cleansing” by Azerbaijan. As reporter Matteo Civillini finds, what Azerbaijan aimed to depict as sustainable new construction Armenians regarded as yet another erasure tactic — an allegation borne out in Civillini’s reporting, which includes on-the-ground observations, satellite imagery, and testimony from Armenians. Upon publication, the PR consultant who’d organized Azerbaijan’s press tour heavily pressured Climate Home to change aspects of the story, even filing a complaint to the UK’s independent press regulator, which in the end ruled in Climate Home’s favor. Azerbaijan subsequently downplayed its Nagorno-Karabakh development in the remainder of the leadup to COP29. Judges called this story “incredibly necessary” and “truly outstanding.”
African Voices and Women of Faith at COP29
GLOBAL SISTERS REPORT | WRITING
Doreen Ajiambo
Read the winning stories here, here, and here.
For the Global Sisters Report, a project of the National Catholic Reporter focusing on the work of Catholic sisters and women in faith more broadly, Kenya-based reporter Doreen Ajiambo connects the unique challenges that African countries and women face amid climate change to the COP29 proceedings. Among other subjects, Ajiambo covers the specific utility of the Loss and Damage Fund for the drought-stricken people of Zambia; the vast sums that rich countries spend on wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and elsewhere, while simultaneously claiming they can’t afford to provide needed support to poorer countries suffering the ravages of climate change; and the work of Catholic sisters to lift up the unequal burden climate change places on women at COP29. Judges applauded Ajiambo’s focus on perspectives that are typically underrepresented in stories about global climate negotiations. Her work, they said, is highly readable and concise, ultimately “making clear and raising the stakes of COP29 for her audience.”
From Gaza to Russia’s war in Ukraine, conflict continued to dominate headlines in 2024. Thoughtful journalism helped audiences explore the climate implications of these and other conflicts. This category was for work that shines a light on the intersections of climate change and violent conflict, including militaries’ carbon footprints, wartime damage to ecosystems, and the potential of climate change to fuel future conflict by driving instability.
The Death Squads Hunting Environmental Defenders
IN THESE TIMES | WRITING
Alessandra Bergamin
Read the winning story here.
Indigenous territories encompass swaths of land, rivers, oceans, and forests that are critical to maintaining a healthy climate; yet the environmental activists who seek to protect this land — often Indigenous themselves — are routinely subject to surveillance, intimidation, and violence. For this deeply researched and vividly told story, freelance journalist Allesandra Bergamin compiles data on the past decade of violence against environmental defenders in 10 hotspot countries, including the Philippines, India, Brazil, and Mexico. Conservatively, she estimates 573 killings took place. Digging further, Bergamin finds close to half of these killings involved state authorities, such as military, police, and intelligence units — many of which receive training, weapons, and financial support from the US. Combining strong, character-driven storytelling with impressive sourcing and credible, hardwon data, Bergamin’s story “clearly makes the case that the US is funding environmental assassinations abroad,” judges said.
Troubled Waters: Drought and Looting in Mexico
PIE DE PÁGINA (MEXICO) | MEDIUM*
Aitor Sáez, Lydiette Carrión & Daniela Pastrana
Read the winning stories in Spanish here.
“It’s rare to find climate reporting this embedded, this fearless, and this alive with complexity,” judges said of this effort to show how climate change-fueled drought in Mexico has turned water into a currency of power and weapon of control. Working for three years, across 12 Mexican regions, reporter Aitor Sáez digs into the causes and impacts of water scarcity. Sáez reveals how water access is becoming an increasingly lucrative business, exposing both official corruption and the involvement of organized crime along the way. But most of all these are stories about the everyday Mexicans whose lives have turned upside down due to water-crises, including not just their hardships but their valiant efforts to survive. Written with a distinctive voice and narrative flair, at times Sáez’s work reads like a novel. “This is extremely thorough journalism, and the payoff is extraordinary,” judges said.
‘Don’t Look Back or We’ll Shoot’: TotalEnergies Knew Troops It Funded Stood Accused of Torture, Rape, and Killing — And Kept Paying Them
SOURCEMATERIAL (UK) & LE MONDE (FRANCE)| MULTIMEDIA
Costanza Gambarini, Leigh Baldwin, Poline Tchoubar & Asia Balluffier
View the winning story here.
This bombshell report from the investigative outfit SourceMaterial, published in partnership with Le Monde, reveals the grim lengths companies will go to access fossil fuels. Drawing on internal company documents and interviews with victims and their families — obtained only by entering a conflict zone restricted to journalists — SourceMaterial’s reporters show that TotalEnergies, among the world’s largest oil and gas companies, knew that soldiers it had hired to protect drilling infrastructure in Mozambique were responsible for grave human rights violations, including killings, rape, and extortion. The story quickly prompted debate and calls for investigations by governments in France, the Netherlands, and the UK, as well as activist campaigns calling on Western governments to halt financing for Total’s operations in Mozambique. “This is vital investigative journalism, with global resonance and impact,” judges said, adding that SourceMaterial’s work “meets the highest standard of journalistic excellence.”
As the climate emergency intensifies, harrowing flights for safety and shelter are increasingly common, especially in the regions most vulnerable to climate impacts. This category was for work that thoughtfully examines internal displacement and cross-border migration driven or made more likely by climate change, as well as government efforts to cope. Judges also considered work exploring the intersection of climate change with the complex web of other factors that prompt displacement, including poverty, violence, resource scarcity, and more.
Rising Tides: Lessons from Pacific Islands’ Climate Survival
CHANNEL NEWS ASIA (SINGAPORE) | MULTIMEDIA
Jackson Board
View the winning stories here.
Pulling triple duty here as writer, photographer, and videographer, reporter Jack Board travels to Tuvalu, Fiji, and Kirabati, to capture portraits of each country at a time when global climate action could still make all the difference in their respective fights against rising seas. The resulting stories are “comprehensive, well-researched, and, critically, respectful” of their subjects, judges said, finding leaders and communities alike weighing impossible decisions. While the plight of the Pacific Islands region is well known, Board’s work stands out for its strong characters, policy depth, and empathetic storytelling. “These are richly detailed, benchmark stories,” judges said. “They exemplify high-impact journalism.”
Taken by the River
CNN | VIDEO
Md Ibrahim Khalilullah
Watch the winning story here.
In Bangladesh, more than 7 million people have been displaced due to all forms of climate change-linked disasters. This gem of a short documentary introduces viewers to two brothers who, in two very different environments, are struggling to survive after losing their homes and livelihoods. One copes with overcrowding and poverty in the capital, Dhaka, where 2,000 new residents arrive every day, some 70% of whom are climate migrants. The other grapples with ceaseless soil erosion on a farm in rural Barisal, where the nearby rivers grow ever wider. “Powerful visuals” and an emotional, intimate story make for “a poignant portrayal of climate change-induced displacement,” judges said.
Environmental Crimes in the Amazon Force Indigenous Women to Migrate
REVISTA AZMINA (BRAZIL)| WRITING
Ester Pinheiro
Read the winning story in Portuguese here.
Too often in reporting about the Amazon, the voices and experiences of Indigenous women are missing. For AzMina Magazine — an outlet that focuses specifically on gender-related issues — reporter Ester Pinheiro serves up a powerful corrective. Drawing on vivid and often heartbreaking testimonies, Pinheiro shows how illegal logging and other crimes, combined with the effects of climate change, have driven Indigenous women away from their homes, usually in the direction of urban centers, where they face unique social and economic challenges. Worse, when the women sought support from FUNAI, the Brazilian government agency meant to protect Indigenous communities, their complaints went ignored. Judges applauded Pinheiro’s efforts to bring Amazonian women to the fore, noting that many of her interviews yield “profound and urgent insights.” Sharp analysis from Pinheiro rounds out this valuable and compelling entry.
The natural world is fundamental to the world’s climate future. From whole ecosystems — at-risk forests, warming seas, melting ice, and more — to crises facing individual plant and animal species, this category was for work that explores nature’s many roles in the climate story, as well as threats to and efforts to protect it.
Is Climate Change Lighting a Fuse Under Iceland’s Volcanoes?
REUTERS | WRITING
Gloria Dickie
Read the winning story here.
Scientists have theorized since the 1970s that volcanic activity may be tied to retreating glaciers. Here, reporter Gloria Dickie accompanies scientists putting that theory to the test in Iceland, where rapid ice loss due to climate change seems to have set volcanoes stirring. At the Askja volcano in central Iceland, they find magma is being produced up to three times faster than it would be without all the ice loss. Dickie widens her scope to include similar concerns by scientists in regards to Antarctica, the Andes Mountains, and parts of North America, revealing the threat this phenomenon could pose to large swaths of the global population. Taking up a fascinating yet largely underreported subject, Dickie successfully makes complicated science accessible to readers. Judges cheered her delicate handling of scientific uncertainty, as well as her warm characterization of the scientists, who, in our judges’ words, appear as “quiet heroes trekking through stark landscapes to gather vital data.” The story, judges said, ultimately serves as “a powerful reminder of the urgent, often invisible work being done to understand our increasingly volatile planet.”
Sakana Crisis
NIKKEI (JAPAN) | DATA
Yukiko Une, Toru Yamada, Tomoya Suzuki, Sotaro Sakai, Dan Clark, Hiroshi Kuno, Koji Uema, Suzu Takahashi, Yoshimasa Shimizu & Kazuhiro Kida
View the winning story in Japanese here.
As oceans warm, the species of fish — sakana, in Japanese — in the waters surrounding Japan are changing. Working with scientists, museums, and records dating back 130 years, a Nikkei team led by data journalist Yukiko Une categorized approximately 2,000 local fish species based on their preference for cooler or warmer waters. Using exceptional data visualizations, they demonstrate how many warmer-water species have come to dominate local waters, with cooler-water species fleeing their habitats. Going a step farther, the team reveals how this shift is also changing the food showing up on dinner plates and at sushi counters across the country. Judges called this “a great way to bring climate change home to audiences,” given the prominent role seafood plays in Japanese culture. The data visualizations are both intuitive and beautiful, and the crisp, effective write-up drives the message home. “This is a showcase example of data journalism,” judges said.
They Turned Cattle Ranches Into Tropical Forest — Then Climate Change Hit
THE VERGE, WITH THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR JOURNALISTS & PUNTO Y APARTE (COSTA RICA) | WRITING
Justine Calma
Read the winning story here.
This beautifully reported story offers a fresh and often overlooked perspective, showing that even regenerated forests, which are an important climate solution, are now vulnerable to the very crisis they help combat. Reporter Justine Calma’s story follows a pair of ecologists who, along with a local community, successfully restore forests in Costa Rica’s Area de Conservación Guanacaste — just in time for hotter and drier conditions exacerbated by climate change to now threaten those forests’ health. Judges called Calma’s story particularly “urgent,” given that most of the world’s countries have committed to similar ecosystem restoration; those plans might be well intentioned but, amid climate change, their success will depend on careful management. With rich anecdotes, solid data, and impressive on-the-ground reporting, Calma’s story “delivers an important message about the fragility of even our greatest conservation successes,” judges said.
The health implications of climate change and extreme weather — including their effects on mental health — are staggering. In this category, judges considered work that sits at this critical intersection. What health conditions have been made worse by climate change? Who is affected uniquely or disproportionately? And are healthcare systems adapting to meet new challenges?
Living Planet: We Need to Talk About Farmers and Mental Health
DEUTSCHE WELLE (GERMANY)| AUDIO
Kathleen Schuster, with Neil King
Listen to the winning story here.
Some climate solutions, despite their necessity, are sure to have unintended consequences. For years, research has pointed to a decline in mental health amongst farmers worldwide, with rises in depression, anxiety, burnout, and suicidal ideation. On the occasion of farmers protests across the European Union in early 2024, most coverage framed farmers’ complaints in purely economic terms — but Deutsche Welle’s Kathleen Schuster wondered if there was more at play. She found that climate change was having a major impact on farmers’ mental health, not just because of extreme weather but climate policies that were imposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without taking important practicalities into account. It’s not that farmers oppose climate action — as well-meaning custodians of their land, many strongly support it — but rather that policies didn’t adequately incorporate their input and, they felt, left them in impossible, unworkable situations. Schuster’s reporting is sensitive and nuanced in its handling of difficult subject matter, which shows especially in the story’s thoughtful interviews. Judges additionally applauded Schuster’s focus on solutions, describing this not only as “important” but “helpful” work.
A Climate Change Forecast: Rain With a Chance of Mosquito-Borne Diseases
NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS | WRITING
Roxanne L. Scott
Read the winning story here.
Hotter summers and warmer springs and falls means a longer mosquito season in New York City. That’s special cause for concern amongst Black and brown communities in some low-lying neighborhoods of Queens, where standing water — in which mosquitos lay their eggs — is more likely to accumulate and pool. Meanwhile, degraded sewer infrastructure and fewer city resources, legacies of the city’s racist redlining policies, complicate residents’ efforts to clear that water out. This is how climate change and environmental injustices past and present collide, leaving neighborhood residents significantly more vulnerable to mosquito-borne diseases. This story, by reporter Roxanne L. Scott for the Black-owned weekly New York Amsterdam News, “exemplifies the importance of local journalism,” judges said. Deep reporting, compellingly direct prose, and warmly-characterized community members who are front and center in Scott’s narrative all made this piece an easy favorite in this year’s competition. “There were no other entries quite like it,” judges said.
Triple Digit Killer
UNIVISION 45 IN HOUSTON | VIDEO
Ana Bueno & Jeffersonn Castellanos
Watch the winning story in Spanish, with English subtitles, here.
Texas has more heat-related deaths among occupational workers than any other US state. To demonstrate the enormous pressure that heat can place on the body, reporter Ana Bueno visits a Texas State University laboratory set to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) and 40% humidity. Donning heavy boots, thick jeans, and a weighted pack, to simulate the experience of an outdoor construction worker, she proceeds to exercise. In just 50 minutes — far shorter than an average shift at work — her body temperature has reached 103 degrees F (39.5 degrees C), just under the “risk zone” for heat stroke and, without immediate cooling treatment, organ failure. After a direct public service announcement about how and when to treat heat illness, Bueno concludes with the story of one community member who collapsed from heat while clearing damage left by 2024’s Hurricane Beryl. “Creative and engaging, this is excellent local reporting,” judges said, praising Bueno’s ability to present important scientific information in quickly digestible terms. The piece is excellent service, they added, alike to viewers, the community, and some of society’s most vulnerable workers.
Climate change is taking a harsh toll on the world’s food systems. And across the world, communities are changing their food production and consumption habits — think regenerative agriculture, meat alternatives, and the tried-and-tested agricultural practices of Indigenous peoples — to both reduce their carbon output and improve their health and quality of life. This category was for work on those subjects and more, from Big Ag to small meals whipped up at home.
‘They Kept Us Alive for Thousands of Years’: Could Saving Palestinian Seeds Also Save the World?
THE GUARDIAN | WRITING
Whitney Bauck, with Bridget Badore
Read the winning story here.
This short feature profiles Vivien Sansour, founder of the West Bank-based Palestine Heirloom Seed Library. As journalist Whitney Bauck reports, Sansour’s mission is twofold: to honor Palestinian heritage and culture in the face of violence that threatens both, and to contribute to food security worldwide, with Palestinian seed varieties that are well-adapted to extreme weather. Bauck expertly weaves a host of complex topics, including war and conflict, food systems, biodiversity, and justice issues faced by the people living on the front lines of both the climate crisis and a literal war zone. While frank about the horrors of Gaza, Bauck’s nuanced and warm characterization of Sansour also suggests that repair is possible, making this story, in a way, “a breath of fresh air” and “beautiful,” judges said.
On Navajo Lands, Ancient Ways Are Restoring the Parched Earth
YALE ENVIRONMENT 360 | WRITING
Lela Nargi
Read the winning story here.
Overgrazing and climate change have decimated once-fertile land in the Navajo Nation’s vast Black Mesa region, situated in northeast Arizona, leading to exceptionally high rates of food insecurity. But now, the Diné people (Navajos’ name for themselves) are restoring watersheds by integrating traditional techniques — think earthen berms and small dams made of woven brush and sticks — with modern water management practices. The result is not only rejuvenating local crops and helping to sequester carbon but improving Navajo food and water sovereignty. We hear a lot in climate journalism that Indigenous knowledge and practices are essential climate solutions, yet seldom do we get such a vivid and gracefully depicted example as this of such knowledge in practical action. Reporter Lela Nargi’s writing is lush with sensitivity and specificity, and her articulation of several climate-change connections in her story is razor sharp. Judges said they “haven’t felt this hopeful about a climate adaptation strategy in a long time.”
Sinking Homes and Farmlands: Climate Crisis Worsens in Nigeria
THE COLONIST REPORT AFRICA (NIGERIA) | WRITING
Faith Imbu, Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi & Kevin Woke
Read the winning story here.
In remote Arukwo village, in Nigeria’s southern Rivers State, devastating floods submerge homes and farmland. Despite millions allocated in the national budget for disaster relief, little aid arrives, leaving vulnerable residents to navigate fatal floodwaters, while local farmers lose millions, exacerbating food scarcity and driving up food prices. Using artificial intelligence to parse 3,000 pages of official documents, and combining the findings with satellite imagery and rigorous on-the-ground reporting, reporter Faith Imbu and editors Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Kevin Woke turn out a hard-hitting exposé on government neglect. Their work had immediate impact, with government officials visiting the community and distributing relief materials even before the story went live. All in all, it’s an incredible effort from a small but mighty newsroom. Judges praised the journalists for taking risks and drawing attention to an underserved locale, calling the story “innovative” and “powerful.”
Given the enormity of the climate crisis, there are intersections with virtually every other subject journalists cover. This category was for work that creatively connects climate change to subjects less commonly associated with it: sports, arts, culture, gender, and education, to name just a few examples.
Herders at the Edge
THE PULITZER CENTER & THE YALE PROGRAM ON CLIMATE CHANGE COMMUNICATION, WITH TENGER TV (MONGOLIA) | VIDEO
Delgerzaya Delgerjargal
Watch the winning story here.
Through the charming and, at times, heart-rending story of a child jockey and a racehorse trainer, this documentary breaks down a complex chain of climate change-linked events that have led to reduced animal weights in Mongolia. The chain goes something like this: climate change is resulting in increasingly dry summers, which reduces vegetation growth; with less vegetation, bulls, for example, lack the strength necessary for breeding; if they do breed, it’s now often later in the season, resulting in fewer, smaller calves who are unlikely to survive Mongolia’s harsh winters. Herders are left with little choice but to sacrifice their income in order to help their animals grow — and thus preserve, they hope, both their livelihoods and way of life. Judges were impressed with filmmaker Delgerzaya Delgerjargal’s ability to clearly connect its characters’ personal stories with larger forces that are playing out on a global scale. “Gorgeous visuals draw you in,” judges said, and the film’s “tender story” keeps you hooked.
In Arizona, a Generation Fears Uncertainties in Abortion Access and Climate Action
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, WITH THE 19TH | WRITING
Joan Meiners, with Shaun McKinnon, Abby Johnston, and Jasmine Mithani
Read the winning story here, in The Arizona Republic, and here, in The 19th.
Reported in the leadup to the 2024 election, this story by Joan Meiners sits at the harrowing intersection of climate action and reproductive rights. At a time when both were on the line at the ballot box, Meiners found women, especially among Gen Z, worried not just about bringing children into a world made increasingly dangerous by climate change but worried that restricted access to abortion care might force unwanted pregnancies and births in any number of volatile and unsafe circumstances. (Critically, neither of these fears were hypothetical in Arizona, a state constantly grappling with extreme heat and in which an 1864 total abortion ban was briefly reinstated in early 2024. That law was subsequently repealed, and in November Arizonans voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.) Well-conceived and thoughtfully executed, this is intersectional reporting at its finest, judges said. Meiners’ well-drawn and carefully depicted characters elevate the story’s emotional resonance.
Snakebites Surge Across South Asia Amid Rising Heat, Floods, and Habitat Loss
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN & HIMAL SOUTHASIAN (SRI LANKA) | WRITING
Ali Jabir Malik & Diwash Gahatraj
Read the winning stories here, in the Associated Press of Pakistan, and here, in Himal Southasian.
A connection between climate change and snake bites might be unexpected, but reporters Ali Jabir Malik and Diwash Gahatraj connect the dots here with aplomb. Across South Asia — in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and more — warming temperatures and extreme weather are destroying snakes’ natural habitats, driving the reptiles to take refuge and create new homes in human settlements. The result is more snakebites, a little-discussed and poorly-tracked phenomenon that is nevertheless having deadly consequences. With compelling inquiries into class — day laborers are particularly high risk, for example — and solutions, these stories leave no stone unturned, judges said. Praising the creative angle and robust sourcing at hand, judges called this a “bold” and ultimately successful collaboration.
Big stories call for ambitious and innovative coverage. This category was for work that constituted a major, dedicated undertaking for the newsrooms and journalists involved — work executed at a scale well beyond the one or several stories that judges considered in other categories.
The Drowning South
THE WASHINGTON POST
Chris Mooney, Brady Dennis, Kevin Crowe, John Muyskens, Jahi Chikwendiu, Brianna Sacks, Niko Kommenda, Emily Wright, Shannon Osaka, Ray Whitehouse, Simon Ducroquet, Sandra M. Stevenson, Amanda Voisard, John Farrell, Alice Li, Joseph Moore, Katie Zezima, Monica Ulmanu, Anu Narayanswamy, Juliet Eilperin, KC Schaper, Ricky Carioti, Dominique Hildebrand, Gaby Morera Di Núbila, Carey L. Biron, Martha Murdock, Frances Moody & Phil Lueck
View the winning stories here, here, here, here, and here
From Texas to North Carolina, sea level rise is threatening homes, wrecking infrastructure, and upending many aspects of daily life — more frequently and often further inland than most realize. More than two dozen Washington Post journalists working in eight states participated in this series, delivering an innovative, exquisitely detailed, and visually striking examination of the causes, patterns, and impacts of sea rise in a region where levels are surging faster than most places on earth. To describe just a few of the series’ stories: In Plaquemines Parish, La., the Post reveals the extraordinary (and ironic) effort the oil and gas industry is putting into sea walls to protect itself from rising oceans; in Miami, through original data analysis and on-the-ground reporting, the team shows how rising groundwater levels are fueling an epidemic of septic tank failure, threatening water quality and public health; and in Carolina Beach, N.C., reporters use stopgap photography to demonstrate in real-time how higher tides persistently worsen floods in the community.
Judges cheered the Post’s Swiss-Army-knife approach, impressed by the Post’s equally excellent use of classic journalistic techniques — shoeleather reporting and intimate human storytelling — to the latest data visualization and presentational tools. They further remarked on the team’s expert translation of not just scientific concepts but the sometimes complex methodologies behind their stories into plain, engaging language. And judges appreciated the consistently wide diversity of sources, which included scientists, officials, everyday community members, and representatives of marginalized communities. “This is altogether exemplary journalism,” judges said. Put more simply: “The Post nailed it.”
Dying Earth
WILD MIND FILMS & AL JAZEERA ENGLISH
Fatima Lianes, Diego Barrero, Jesus Zambrana, Daniel López, Fran Pigni, Alicia Villa, Zainab Walji & Farid Barsoum
View the winning stories here, here, here, here, and here.
This extraordinary series of half-hour documentaries, produced by Wild Mind Films and broadcast on Al Jazeera English, tackles the profound fight at the core of the climate crisis, between saving the planet and growing our economies. With its global scope, at times Dying Earth’s aim seems to be nothing short of telling the climate story in its entirety. Subjects taken up in the episodes include: vulnerable populations in countries both rich and poor suffering declining health, food security, and more, while those causing climate damage grow seemingly only richer; the modern world’s shift to greener energy sources but at the expense of countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where cobalt mining has led to toxic dumping and devastated landscapes; the ongoing war between big business and environmental defenders, including Indigenous communities that continue to fight climate change despite unrelenting intimidation and violence against them; and some countries’ efforts to find a new way, such as in Costa Rica, where better urban planning is benefiting humans and wildlife alike and where improved well-being is rooted in more than money.
This series is beautifully shot and packs equal power in every episode. Judges were impressed by the episodes’ effortless leaps across continents and smart juxtaposition of cultures that are half the world apart but have more in common than audiences might expect. Judges called Dying Earth “comprehensive, devastating, ambitious, and amazing.” In sum, they said, the series represents “an incredible and rewarding investment in climate coverage.”
Brazilian Municipal Elections Through the Lens of the Climate Emergency
AGÊNCIA PÚBLICA, WITH AMAZÔNIA VOX & MATINAL JORNALISMO (BRAZIL)
Giovana Girardi, Bruno Fonseca, Thiago Domenici, Mariama Correia, Ed Wanderley, Amanda Audi, Danilo Queiroz, Gabriel Gama, José Cícero, Rafael Custódio, Rafael Oliveira, Bianca Muniz, Matheus Pigozzi, Caio de Freitas, Rubens Valente, João Canizares, Gregório Mascarenhas, Silvia Lisboa, André Uzeda, Ana Carolina Amaral, Alice Martins & Vitoria Faria
View the winning work here and here.
This special award is given to three early-career journalists, individuals with five or fewer years of professional journalism experience, whose work on climate change shows exceptional promise. Previous winners of the award are Ethan Brown, Alejandro de la Garza, Rahma Diaa, Sanket Jain, Adam Mahoney, Eman Mounir, and Shannon Osaka.
TJ Jordan
REPORTER, DESMOG & FREELANCER
Read some of Jordan’s winning work here, here, and here; and find all his work for DESMOG here.
In 2023, after five years in public relations, TJ Jordan quit, with a mind towards holding his former industry to account for its complicity in the climate crisis. Now, with a slew of hard-hitting investigations to his name, it’s safe to say this Paris-based reporter is succeeding. In 2024, for just a few examples, Jordan exposed that half the board members at the world’s six largest advertising and PR firms have deep personal ties to polluting industries, resulting in conflicts of interest that may lead to greener causes getting short shift; he reported on a British-owned PR firm that hired hundreds of social influencers to help drown out pipeline protests in Uganda, as the protestors in question were suffering beatings and harassment by police; and, in a piece judges called “shocking,” he showed that three in four winners of a prestigious green advertising award were agencies working for fossil fuel companies. “It takes a lot of courage to take on big companies like this,” judges said, let alone to do so this early in one’s career and with the narrative flare Jordan brings to his work. “Consistently superb,” judges said. “TJ’s stories are smart, original, and important.”
* Above graphic used by request.
Yangyel Lhaden
REPORTER, KUENSEL CORPORATION LIMITED (BHUTAN)
Read some of Lhaden’s winning stories here, here, and here; and find her on LinkedIn here.
For years in Bhutan, mandarin groves have been retreating to higher altitudes. It’s a well-known dilemma in a country where oranges are a vital cash crop, yet no one in Bhutan’s media had covered it as a consequence of climate change — that’s until Yangyel Lhaden did so in early 2024, in a story judges called “fascinating and elegantly crafted,” with a crystal-clear climate connection. That story is characteristic of Lhaden, a reporter at Bhutan’s national newspaper Kuensel who, judges said, “stands out for her exceptional ability to clearly articulate how climate change impacts daily life, presenting these issues from a sensitive, courageous, and deeply human perspective.” Lhaden covers wide-ranging subjects, including, for example, about how chemical fertilizers used by potato farmers can lead to excess greenhouse gas emissions and about whether a small country like Bhutan is ever heard in global climate forums, like COP29. Not only do her stories showcase Lhaden’s talent, they’re influential; judges were impressed that after Lhaden began covering climate change in Kuensel, there was a noticeable uptick in climate stories elsewhere in Bhutan’s media. “This is pioneering local reporting,” judges said. “Yangyel’s stories are compelling and powerfully address the real-world effects of climate change.”
Maximiliano Manzoni
DIRECTOR, CONSENSO (Paraguay) & RESEARCHER, CLIMATE TRACKER AMÉRICA LATINA
Read some of Manzoni’s winning work here, here, and here; and subscribe to Consenso here.
In 2024 alone, three of Maximiliano Manzoni’s investigations had significant real-world impacts. His coverage of extreme heat in Paraguayan public schools — published in Consenso, a Substack newsletter which Manzoni founded to focus on climate change, justice, and disinformation in South America — sparked a hearing in the country’s legislature. His revelation that a lithium company and Paraguay’s environment ministry had lied to approve mining on Indigenous land, also for Consenso, led to the subsequent cancellation of that project. And for Climate Home News, Manzoni revealed how lax regulations in Paraguay had shaped a carbon offset deal between it and Singapore, leading to greater scrutiny that in turn resulted in Singapore insisting on higher standards. In addition to his work at Consenso, Manzoni serves as a researcher for Climate Tracker Latin America and has trained other journalists in the region on investigative techniques. Judges called Manzoni’s work “innovative” and demonstrative of his mastery of many different complex climate change-related subjects. “His articles are well-reported, thorough, and confident,” judges said. “Utterly brilliant.”
CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO THE WINNERS, AND THANK YOU TO ALL ENTRANTS.
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