Meeting the rising demand for energy worldwide while limiting the rise in the global average temperature will require a huge infusion of green skills across the energy industry. As nearly 200 countries have committed to tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030 and businesses, investors, cities and regions have pledged to meet net-zero targets, the energy transition – and the workforce needed to carry out this transformation – is a story with major implications for the world’s fight against climate change. Clean Energy Wire and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security invite five journalists to join the COP29 Cross-Border Energy Transition Reporting Fellowship and form a cross-border cohort reporting on energy transition and the green workforce for 10 days during COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan in November. Travel costs will be covered and each fellow will receive a stipend. This is a global opportunity. Applications will be accepted until 12 August, 23.59 CET.
Clean energy employment exceeded fossil fuel employment for the first time in 2021. Job openings requiring green skills are growing almost twice as fast as the number of workers with the skills required to fill them, according to a 2023 LinkedIn report analysing data in 48 countries. This shows that there is more to the story than the frequent reporting on jobs lost due to the phasing out of fossil fuels.
With pledges to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, how are governments trying to close the skilled labour gap? What training already exists for green skills and how much of this training is available for people working in fossil fuels? How are countries and companies attracting green workers and how does this affect migration patterns? How does the need for skilled labour interact with the pace of the transition and trends like rising protectionism and nationalism in some countries? Are there efforts underway to ensure that clean energy job growth and skill development advance gender balance and equity in the workforce when only 15 percent of current energy jobs are held by women?
To answer these questions and more, Clean Energy Wire and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security are collaborating to organise the COP29 Cross-Border Energy Transition Reporting Fellowship to create a cross-border newsroom around the topic of green workers, focusing on the implementation of the energy transition to combat climate change.
Each year at the UN climate summits, countries make commitments to realise the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Over 140 countries have set net-zero targets, covering about 88 percent of global emissions. Governments and businesses continue to make many green promises. One of the key questions for journalists to examine now is implementation. The energy transition – and the workers who carry out this transformation – is a crucial story that intersects with labour rights, migration, economics, technology, gender, and geopolitics.
COP29 will be a pivotal moment for journalists to research and report on the global transition to a climate neutral economy. Representatives from governments, business, science, finance, civil society, and media will attend the two-week event – making it an advantageous venue for journalists to gather information, conduct interviews with key stakeholders, and develop stories related to the energy transition.
The fellowship
Journalists selected to participate in the COP29 Cross-Border Energy Transition Reporting Fellowship will have an opportunity to focus their attention on energy transition issues and the green workforce, while collaborating, reporting, and learning with other journalists in a multi-national cohort.
The cohort will participate in virtual meetings and trainings in the six weeks prior to COP29 and then travel to Baku to report from November 14-24. Additional reporting will be completed in each fellows’ home countries after the COP. While in Baku, the fellowship organisers will facilitate collaboration and connection across the newsroom and create opportunities for source development, high level interviews, information-gathering, and networking with other journalists and COP delegates. Stories will be published in each journalists’ outlet, with possible republication by Clean Energy Wire.
Eligibility: This fellowship is open to journalists globally with a track record of reporting on climate and energy issues. This opportunity is open to both freelance and staff journalists.
You can apply until 12 August, 23.59 CET.
Please note: Journalists need to include a letter of intent from a media outlet that agrees to publish their stories.
Selected fellows get…
- A chance to attend COP29 with travel and accommodation covered for 10 days (from 14 until 24 November) and to report on an important agenda-setting topic
- Logistical support ahead of and during COP29
- Guidance from CLEW staff and collaboration with colleagues before, during and after COP
- Opportunities to attend networking mixers with other journalists covering COP
- A chance to get their work published in their own media, as well as Clean Energy Wire (if their own media agrees to it and the quality of work meets CLEW standards)
- A stipend of €1,000 to cover expenses while reporting at COP and in their home countries
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