Our media houses rarely fund such trips, especially to report on the environment which our editors give low priority to.

For us journalists, this can make work in our newsrooms frustrating, but when we do get to travel we realize that the environment beat is not neglected worldwide.

When I travelled to the UN climate change conference in Durban last month — with a fellowship from the Climate Change Media Partnership — I was amazed.

Whichever way I turned my head in the media centre, I could meet new journalist friends from every continent on Earth.

At the cafeteria nearby I could chat with experienced environment reporters from around the world – people whose articles form part of my daily diet in my newsroom back home.

I am not exaggerating when I say that reporting on the UN climate change talks is one of the best experiences an environment journalist could ever have. Suddenly it seems as if everyone in the world talks only about forests, water and climate.

My fellowship was funded by the Growing Forest Partnerships initiative, whose journalism programme I work for in Nepal.

The two week meeting was an amazing opportunity for me to develop the knowledge and skills I apply to that role by learning and networking with people from around the world.

Forests are everywhere at the climate change conference. From the entrance gate to the large exhibition hall and in negotiating rooms themselves, people are talking about trees.

Outside of the conference centre too, I learnt about the forests and how hard it is to generate new ones.

At the Buffelsdraai landfill site, operated by Durban municipality at the outskirts of the city, I visited an innovative project has helped women from local communities become “tree-preneurs“.

They sell seedlings of indigenous species to the municipality which then plants them across hundreds of hectares of former sugar cane fields.

The trip to Durban counted a lot for me as it provided an opportunity to learn and make new friends, to report back to local audiences in Nepal about the global talks and gain international exposure for my stories.

For any environment journalist in a dilemma about whether to continue their profession, this kind of meeting can inspire optimism. Amid the swirling politics, we can see the world coming together to discuss how forests, water and climate are all important for our future.

These are the stories we must keep telling.

While lawyers, scientists, businessmen and politicians decide on the future of our planet behind closed doors at UN climate change talks (COP17), the ordinary people who their decisions affect most are almost entirely excluded. On Saturday, thousands took to the streets for the largest mass action of the two-week conference.

Chanting time-honored South African protest songs, the people of Durban joined workers and activists from all over the world to march against climate change, rising poverty and inequality, in the hope of pressuring delegates at the talks – as always, bogged down by diplomatic red tape and a lack of will – into finding real solutions. Below are some photos from Saturday’s march, and click here for more.

 “It is not the same as the World Cup that was in South Africa last year,” he began. “This is about the weather.”  

  He didn’t stop there though; he dropped the rolled up rug he was carrying and eagerly started a little lecture in which he gesticulated much of the time, explaining how the rains in Durban were falling harder than they used to.

  Themba isn’t one of your “experts, negotiators or delegates” at COP 17 currently taking place in the serene coastal city of Durban, South Africa. He is one of the many volunteers engaged to help with the arrangement of equipment at the grounds of the conference.  

  It seemed much more rewarding listening to Themba talk about climate change, than having one’s ear drum burst with the arcane detail hurled down at the press conferences.

   Vintage example: How would the ordinary reader in a remote village in Nigeria understand the following: “A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing of extreme weather and climate events, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events.”

  The above is a portion of the report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which also says that “changes in extremes can be linked to changes in the mean, variance or shape of probability distributions, or all of these. Some climate extremes (e.g., droughts) may be the result of an accumulation of weather or climate events that are not extreme when considered independently.”

Clearly, this issue needs to be better communicated.

  So on Thursday, the first ever Climate Change Communications Day took place in Durban. Journalists and other media practitioners took time out to brainstorm on how to deliver the message of climate change, in spite of boring jargons inherent in the material. Organised by Internews, the Earth Journalism network, and the International Institute for Environmental Development (IIED), the conference had the theme, Addressing climate change with innovation and information. It was a frank and robust discourse. The complimentary roles of the journalist, and the scientist were highlighted.

The point was made that the seriousness of the problem of climate change required less of the nerdy attitudes of some scientists that is already isolating the very people the message is meant for. To drive home this point was Randy Olson, author of Don’t Be Such A Scientist.

  After taking care of “such scientists,” the discourse moved on to focus on journalists themselves. Canvassed, were such points as telling a “sexy story” that would be interesting, yet drive home the point of climate change. An example was provided by Indian Journalist Joydeep Gupta of the Third Pole Project – who told a story about how the carbon emissions from putting a jeans trouser in the washing machine could be calculated. “I did it as a box story, but I was amazed at the response I got,” said Gupta.

  Yet, concerns were expressed that while such exotic little stories were important, there was the need to keep an eye on the big picture, such that the actions or inactions of decision makers would not go unreported.

  Moderated by Marina Joubert of Southern Science, South Africa, the opening plenary saw heated debate on the issue of objectivity. It was Gupta position that journalists must draw a line between journalism and activism. A Jewish Rabbi in the audience dismissed such aspirations towards objectivity, likening it to an arts reporter keeping a distance from the theatre because he wants to be objective. “To my mind, that is nonsense,” he said.

She spent 21 days on the road, traveling through five countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana and Zambia – before arriving in Durban for the start of the conference on the 27th. For 21 days she slept in the truck, sharing the space with nine other journalists from other small African nations who had the passion to cover climate change, but lacked the resources to travel around to cover the issue extensively, or go to a UN climate summit. The convoy that Audrey joined was organised by the UN’s African Adaptation Programme.

It was a difficult journey for Audrey. In Nairobi, her friends and colleagues had come to know about the roadshow and were waiting to hear her stories. But all day, she was in the truck, travelling through barren land and villages where internet or mobile networks didn’t exist.

Sometimes the convoy did pass through cities and townships, but the trucks would be parked well outside the city center from where it would be impossible to reach a cyber cafe, write and file a story and be back in time.

But resilience had the upper hand. Against all odds, she filed two stories – one each week.

“I wrote my reports by hand during the short breaks when we stopped for a few minutes. Then I called my office in Nairobi and asked them to record my voice. I had also recorded the voices of locals on the trip, so I played those down the phone line for my colleagues to re-record back at the station,” recalls Audrey.

Contrary to how it sounds, it was a far from simple job. Sharing the space within the truck with others meant there was noise all around. So she had to wait till the dead of the night, when everyone would go to bed, to call her office. “I used to go to the toilet. It was dirty and smelly, as they did not have enough water. But it was the only quiet place. So that became my office and I filed the stories from there,” she says.

But there were more challenges to come. Because the truck travelled all day, they could only cook and eat a hot meal at night. For breakfast and lunch, they ate cold packed meals for three weeks. As the truck drove closer to Durban, washing became almost impossible. “In Botswana, where it is very close to the Kalahari desert, there was no water. We had only a few buckets of water for cooking. So, there was no question of taking a bath, though it was very hot,” says Audrey.

Moving from one climate (rainy, wet in Nairobi) to another (dry, hot in Zambia and Botswana) was a challenge and Audrey felt that she was now trying to adapt to a fast changing climate in her own life.

And then there were battles of a more personal kind. A single mother, she has had to leave her five year-old son with another woman for over a month. She misses her son deeply, but feels indebted to her neighbour for being kind enough to look after him. “It’s this woman who made it possible for me to come here. If she had not agreed to take care of my son, I couldn’t have made it at all,” she says with a smile.

Undoubtedly, the trip has made her more resilient but how has it helped to deepen her knowledge of the core issue – climate change?

“It was a great learning opportunity. I saw things that I could have never done otherwise. Along the border of Tanzania-Zambia alone, I counted 10 rivers that were completely dry. It was the most visible sign of climate change. Everyday, as we passed through villages, I also met locals – farmers, cowherds and women – and had a first account of what was happening around them, how they were personally affected by climate change. Most of them did not know what climate change is. But what they told me was that things around them have changed – this tree was greener, that vegetable doesn’t grow anymore and so on.”

Now that she is attending the COP17, she reflects that she has a much better comprehension of climate change reporting thanks to her three-week journey of discovery. She has learnt that journalists have a tough job translating climate change to their audience. The communities she met are all aware of the effects of climate change, but the gaps and changes that they note are small – yet significant to these people’s daily lives. However, she also feels that 192 governments attending the Durban conference should listen to these views from the ground, and take each small change seriously.

Twenty-four Jamaican artistes have decided to sing for climate change – they have volunteered to help educate the public in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world. Written by Lloyd Lovindeer – Caribbean song writer extraordinaire – this song is loved the world over and serves as an easy way to introduce people to climate change.

It includes some tips from journalists Tim Radford and Alex Kirby, who have given me permission to include them here.

1. Know your audience. When you sit down to write a story there is only one person that matters and it is not you, not your editor and not the person you just interviewed. It is the reader or listener or viewer – someone who are unlikely to ever meet. They are the most important people in the world. Be familiar with their level of knowledge about climate change and about the things they care most about.  If in doubt, assume your audience knows nothing. But never make the mistake of assuming that they are stupid. The classic error in journalism is to over-estimate the audience’s knowledge and under-estimate their intelligence.

2. Understand the basics. If you don’t have a thorough understanding of the key topics, your audience never will. You need to know and understand the greenhouse effect and the various sources of greenhouse gases. You need to understand the kinds of impacts that a warmer world could bring, and the difference between risk and vulnerability, and between adaptation and mitigation. If you don’t know these things know you can train yourself with online courses such as the News University’s one or the Earth Journalism Toolkit.

3. Team up. To tell the story of climate change well you need to understand the science, the politics, the economics and more. But no-one can excel in all of these aspects. Even superheroes achieve more as a team. So team up with other journalists. Time journalist Eric Pooley has urged media outlets to create climate policy teams that include environmental science reporters, political reporters and business and energy reporters. This mix, working together, would be able to combine their strengths to report more effectively on these three angles, which are deeply connected but usually reported on in isolation.

Read the rest of the tips, and comments from other journalists here

The Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) is proud to announce the launch of a Fellowship programme that will send journalists to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban (COP17) in late 2011. The Fellowships are open predominantly to journalists from developing countries, but journalists from the US and Russia are also welcome to apply.

Formed in 2007 by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN), Panos London and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the CCMP has brought developing country journalists to the annual UN climate summits over the past four years. This has enabled them to cover the summit for their home media organisations, work with experienced and knowledgeable journalists from around the world, and gain a multifaceted understanding of climate change’s global impact. Numerous regional organisations also play a supporting role in the partnership.

As part of the fellowships, the CCMP will cover travel, lodging and daily subsistence expenses, arrange press accreditation at COP17, and provide other support services. The Fellows will benefit from a series of specially designed activities, including an orientation session, breakfast briefings, a field trip and a media clinic.

The CCMP fully respects the editorial independence of all journalists. Throughout the conference, Fellows are free to report as they see fit. We do require that Fellows attend the entire summit, provide copies or summaries of all the stories they file during COP17 for posting on our websites and that they show collegial attitude towards other Fellows. One of the main benefits of this program will be the opportunity for Fellows to exchange views and information with their journalistic peers from around the world.

Fellowship applications open on June 9, 2011 and close at midnight on June 30, 2011. All journalists working for media in a developing country, the US or Russia are eligible to apply. Traditionally, we have only welcomed journalists from developing countries, but due to the challenges of reporting on climate change in the US and Russia, and the availability of funding for Fellows from these countries, we are opening this year’s Fellowships to US and Russian journalists, as well. Criteria for evaluating applicants will include the prospective Fellow’s demonstrated interest in climate change issues; their audience; and the ability of the Fellowship to provide an opportunity for those journalists who might not otherwise have a chance to cover such events.

At the moment, we only have sufficient funding to bring a small number of Fellows, but are actively working to increase our support in order to increase those numbers. In addition to selecting Fellows whom we hope to announce in September, therefore, we’ll also create a waitlist from which we can select additional journalists as more funding becomes available. Although we expect there will be a diverse range of experience and regions represented among the Fellows, one goal of this program is to reach audiences – particularly marginalized communities - who are currently underserved when it comes to climate information.

Any queries may be submitted to ccmp@internews.org. Initial funding for this program is provided by private US foundations, including the Kendeda Fund and the Smart Family Foundation.

Applicants will be required to:

• Complete and submit an online application form before the June 30, 2011 deadline.
• Provide a support letter from their editor, producer, or supervisor

[Note: Freelance journalists are welcome to apply, but must provide a letter of support indicating that their stories will be published or broadcast]

• Provide two samples of their work, published within the last 12 months
• Have a valid passport that will not expire before June, 2012

Internews Network and Internews Europe developed the Earth Journalism Network to empower and enable journalists from developing countries to cover the environment more effectively. EJN establishes networks of environmental journalists in countries where they don’t exist, and builds their capacity where they do, through training workshops and fellowship programs, the development of briefing materials and online tools, support for production and distribution, and the provision of small grants.

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute and registered charity. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development.

Panos London promotes the participation of poor and marginalised people in national and international development debates through media and communication projects. It has been supporting journalists, editors and media organisations in the developing world for 25 years.

In recent years, the CCMP has supported nearly 150 journalists from 49 countries in Africa and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The CCMP fellowships include spend two weeks reporting on the UN climate-change negotiations, as well as training, fields trips, special briefings with scientists, negotiators and other experts.

We want to do more, so please consider voting and telling others who might be interested.

You can read our full nomination text below, and you can vote online here: (voting closes on 15 April)

Nomination: Climate Change Media Partnership
“When I took this job the issue of climate change was hardly being reported in developing countries at all,” said Yvo de Boer in his final press conference as head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in June 2010.

“And if it was being reported in developing countries it was being reported as an issue in which the West is interested but which is not of particular concern to the South. I think that that has fundamentally changed. I think that the media partnership has played a modest role in that. Media attention through you has deepened in the South.”

De Boer was talking about the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP), an innovative project through which hundreds of millions of people across the developing world received accurate, relevant information about climate change last year, with funding largely from the European Commission.

Set up by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, Panos and the International Institute for Environment and Development, the CCMP’s main activity is a fellowship programme, which enables journalists from developing nations to report on intergovernmental climate-change negotiations.

In June 2010, the CCMP took 14 journalists from developing nations to the UNFCCC meeting in Bonn, Germany. Later in the year, and the partnership took another group — this time 31 journalists from 26 developing countries to the UNFCCC conference in Cancún, Mexico. Over two weeks, they sent a vital stream of news back to their home countries in languages as diverse as Kiswahili, Arabic, Nepali and Mandarin.

As well as receiving editorial support and training on the science and politics of climate change, the journalists visited community forestry projects and interviewed leading climate change experts and negotiators. Reporting on the negotiations and side events for their home media outlets was the top priority in Cancún for the CCMP fellows, but they also published stories on the partnership’s website.

As Yvo de Boer noted, the dominant Western media rarely tells such stories from perspectives of developing nations whose journalists can rarely afford to travel to major international meetings.

The CCMP fellows are not the only journalists to benefit from the project. In 2010, the CCMP sent more than 5,000 other journalists worldwide its toolkit on how to report on REDD+ and a link to the CCMP’s online Roster of Experts where hundreds of scientists and other professionals have made themselves available to journalists.

Many CCMP journalists have gone on to become leading reporters on climate-change in their countries. In 2010, CCMP fellows from Pakistan, India, Namibia and the Philippines all organised workshops to equip other journalists with the knowledge, skills and resources needed to cover climate change.

The CCMP’s email network provides ongoing support to these future leaders of climate change journalism. Their passion and determination for finding great stories and reporting them in ways that are relevant to their audiences has helped inform many many millions of people around the world about climate change and what it will mean for their lives.

You can vote online here