Communities that bear the brunt of climate change’s impacts — particularly women, youth, and indigenous peoples — tend to have the least influence on how to respond to the threat. Their voices are not typically part of global environmental debates or dialogues.
Through the Human Dimensions of Climate Change project (HD Climate), supported by the Oak Foundation, EJN worked to amplify these voices in local and international media, convey grassroots concerns to policymakers and help meet the growing demand for actionable knowledge on the changing climate.
This was one of the largest projects EJN ever carried out, and it centered on the landmark 2015 Paris climate summit (to which we brought nearly 40 journalists) and its aftermath. EJN drew on our global network of journalists and partners, what we refer to as a "networked journalism" approach, to focus on uncovering and reporting on the human dimensions of climate change in an effort to put the needs and concerns of underrepresented populations at the center of the climate discourse.
By engaging a range of constituencies, the project did the following:
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Commissioned hundreds of compelling stories that highlight what is at stake for those most vulnerable to climate change—and surfaced these narratives consistently in key regions throughout the world;
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Invested in local media leadership through training, grants, networking and digital media;
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Provided tools and resources to journalists to raise public understanding and awareness of underrepresented issues relating to the human dimensions of climate change and ensured their access to a range of media distribution channels to make their voices heard;
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Scaled up our GeoJounalism sites and the capacity for EJN and our partners to carry out data journalism; and
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Supported collaboration, knowledge sharing and learning through networking among environmental journalists working in regions and countries that face similar challenges.
