Media for Inclusive Green Growth in Nepal

Nepal is facing numerous environmental crises: Glaciers are melting, native species’ ranges are shifting to higher altitudes and extreme precipitation is becoming more frequent. The country faces increasing threats from soil erosion, flashfloods, droughts and other environmental problems. Heavily dependent on hydropower electricity, its more than a hundred hydropower projects have damaged river systems and depleted freshwater biodiversity, while putting human lives at risk due to landslides and other disasters. 

Women and gender minorities, youth, and ethnic and religious minorities bear the disproportionate brunt of these impacts. The economy is also vulnerable to climate change impacts, with recent studies by the Asian Development Bank predicting that Nepal may lose 2.2% of its annual GDP due to climate change by 2050. 

Since Nepal implemented a new constitution in 2015, there have been shifts in policies pertaining to natural resources and environmental approaches, however more dialogue is needed between lawmakers and key stakeholders to address environmental and climate impacts.  

The media plays a critical role in this exchange by informing the public and policy makers, facilitating public debate, and strengthening transparency and accountability. However, local media outlets face a number of challenges, including a lack of financial support and access to relevant scientific information, the spread of dis- and misinformation, and under-representation of women and minorities in newsrooms and media coverage.  

Internews, in collaboration with the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists and Antenna Foundation Nepal, is launching a three-year program aimed at strengthening climate and environmental coverage, raising public awareness, and supporting the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups in Nepal. 

Project activities will include: 

• A “Training of Trainers” workshop to equip senior journalists with the skills to train and mentor other journalists in Nepal on the topics of natural resource management, green growth and gender-inclusive reporting, solutions journalism, and more.  
• Three media workshops for local reporters led by these senior journalists. 
• Seed grants awarded to independent media houses to support media innovation in climate change and natural resource management coverage.  
• Reporting fellowships and mentorship to help journalists produce stories on relevant topics. 
• Multi-stakeholder dialogues at the national and sub-national level to share key discussion points with federal lawmakers, journalists, representatives of civil society and experts on natural resource management and the environment. 
• Fact-checking and journalism training for social media influencers and citizen journalists sharing content about natural resource management, and support for community radio programming. 

These opportunities will prioritize the participation and inclusion of women, sexual and gender minorities, ethnic minorities and Indigenous peoples.

The project has been undertaken with the financial assistance of the European Union. Complementary funding will be provided by Internews’ EJN Asia-Pacific Phase 2 award, supported by Sida. 

Banner image: As the risk of climate-related disasters rises in Nepal, strengthened climate and environmental coverage will be key to improving public awareness and policies / Credit: Gavin Yeates via Flickr.