Virtual Reporting Fellowships to the UNCBD (COP16) and UNFCCC (COP29)

Internews’ Earth Journalism Network is pleased to announce two separate virtual fellowship programs that will support selected journalists to cover the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 
Please read the following sections carefully, as they contain important information on eligibility and the application process. Please note: These virtual fellowships are taking place in addition to in-person fellowships, for which applications are closed.  

Overview 

The end of 2024 will see two major UN conferences taking place, gathering key stakeholders and decision-makers from around the globe. As biodiversity decline and the climate emergency cause ecological, social and financial upheaval, covering UNCBD COP16 and UNFCCC COP29 negotiations and outcomes will be crucial.

The UNCBD COP16 conference takes place in Cali, Colombia from 21 October–1 November 2024 . It will see key players examine progress made toward the safeguarding and restoration of biological diversity. COP16 will focus on supporting countries so that their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) align with the Biodiversity Plan, mobilizing and bolstering the means of implementation – primarily funding – and finding a way to govern access and benefit-sharing (ABS), particularly to Digital Sequence Information and genetic material.

The UNFCCC COP29 will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11–22 November 2024. It will be a key gathering to advance the goals of the Paris Agreement and make progress on Parties’ mitigation and adaptation targets. The priorities of this COP include both upscaling national efforts to reduce carbon emissions through Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and negotiating a new climate finance goal, replacing the existing commitment of $100 billion annually until 2025. Success at COP29 hinges on establishing a new goal that is based on the needs of and addresses the previous goal’s shortcomings.

To build journalists knowledge of climate and biodiversity policy and improve their capacity to report on these important conferences, EJN is offering two virtual fellowship opportunities for early-career environmental journalists, or reporters who would like to improve their understanding of the UNFCCC and UNCBD negotiations process and related issues, to enable them to cover these conferences remotely for their outlets.

Applications for the UNFCCC COP29 and UNCBD COP16 Virtual Reporting Fellowships will be accepted until 15 August. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. Please consider submitting at least one day in advance of the deadline to avoid any issues. This year’s CCMP Fellowship is organized and implemented in collaboration with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, with generous support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Additional funders may be confirmed later.

Logistics 

As part of EJN’s CBD Fellowship, we intend to award eight journalists — four journalists from Africa and four journalists from Latin America — with virtual fellowships to cover the UNCBD COP16.

As part of EJN’s longstanding Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP), organized in partnership with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, we intend to award 10 journalists — five journalists from South Asia and five journalists from Europe and Eurasia* — with virtual fellowships to cover the UNFCCC COP29 remotely.

For both conferences, selected virtual fellows will receive training, mentorship and other support to facilitate remote reporting on these important events. Fellows will have the opportunity to engage with their cohort and share knowledge and ideas for effective reporting, as well as partake in sessions with in-person Fellows. They will benefit from a series of specially designed activities, including an orientation workshop, daily briefings, mentoring, and assistance. Veteran regional journalists will provide valuable insight into the proceedings from on the ground in Baku and Cali, as well as tools, resources, editing and guidance as needed to support fellows to produce in-depth coverage of the negotiations and their outcomes.

All fellows will also receive a communications stipend of $100 to ensure that they have consistent access to the virtual activities of the fellowship.

Eligibility  

Requirements for the two Fellowships are different so please read the below carefully:

To be eligible for the CBD Virtual Fellowship to cover UNCBD COP16 remotely, applicants must:

• Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from either of the two eligible regions: Africa* or Latin America** (see below for a list of eligible countries);
• Commit to participate in all fellowship activities (up to 20 hours in total across the fellowship period), including:
  • Four weekly 60-90 minute virtual training sessions in the month leading up to the COP
  • 1-2-1 sessions with your mentor as needed
  • Daily 30–60-minute virtual briefings from the COP between 21 October – 1 November 2024
• Commit to spend 4-6 hours independently crafting each of your stories from the conference;
• Have sufficient internet access, internet speed and local broadband capacity to allow them to attend all virtual sessions on Zoom (1.0-1.5 mbps), or can secure good internet access with use of the stipend to be provided; be able to complete an Internet speed test;
• Have a good command of the English language;
• Have previous experience reporting on biodiversity and environmental issues, and can clearly indicate the kinds of stories they would like to pursue during the conference;
• Share an up-to-date resume/CV;
• Provide a letter of support from an editor, producer or supervisor who can confirm that your news reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet. Freelancers are welcome to apply but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report; and
• Provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples on biodiversity topics, which can be uploaded as documents or web links. Stories can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis. Clips must focus on biodiversity topics and should have been published in the last 12 months.

To be eligible for the CCMP Virtual Fellowship to cover UNFCCC COP29 remotely, applicants must:

• Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from either of the two eligible regions: South Asia*** or Europe and Eurasia**** (see below for a list of eligible countries);
• Commit to participate in all fellowship activities (up to 20 hours in total across the fellowship period), including:
  • Four weekly 60-90 minute virtual training sessions in the month leading up to the COP
  • 1-2-1 sessions with your mentor as needed
  • Daily 30-60 minute virtual briefings from the COP between 11 – 22 November
• Commit to spend 4-6 hours independently crafting each of your stories from the conference;
• Have sufficient internet access, internet speed and local broadband capacity to allow them to attend all virtual sessions on Zoom (1.0-1.5 mbps), or can secure good internet access with use of the stipend to be provided; be able to complete an Internet speed test;
• Have a good command of the English language;
• Have previous experience reporting on climate change and environmental issues, and can clearly indicate the kinds of stories they would like to pursue during the conference;
• Share an up-to-date resume/CV;
• Provide a letter of support from an editor, producer or supervisor who can confirm that your news reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet. Freelancers are welcome to apply, but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report; and
• Provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples on climate change topics, which can be uploaded as documents or web links. Stories can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis. Clips must focus on climate change topics and should have been published in the last 12 months.

For the purposes of this opportunity, we will only be accepting applications in English. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must be able to participate fully in an English-language Fellowship to be awarded.

Applications are open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio). We welcome applications from early-career journalists and experienced reporters with a track record of covering biodiversity or climate change issues, depending upon the fellowship program. We encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – international, national, local and community-based.

Journalists who have been awarded a CCMP fellowship in the past are not eligible for the CCMP virtual fellowship. Journalists who have participated in an EJN fellowship for the biodiversity COPs are not eligible for the CBD virtual fellowship. 

EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, plagiarism and submitting substantive generative AI-produced content as their own.

*Eligible countries in Africa include Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

**Eligible countries in Latin America include Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.

***Eligible countries in South Asia include Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

****Eligible countries in Europe and Eurasia include Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. 

Judging criteria  

We are looking for applicants who meet the following criteria:

• Demonstrated experience covering either climate change issues if applying for the CCMP COP29 fellowship or biodiversity issues if applying for the UNCBD COP16 fellowship;
• A preliminary reporting plan for the conference, including potential story ideas and issues you would like to focus on;
• A relationship with an established media house and a signed letter of support from an editor agreeing to publish or broadcast work produced at the conference;
• EJN and the CCMP also consider the need to assemble a diverse cohort of journalists from different types of media houses, mediums and geographies.

Story logistics  

Fellows are expected to produce stories regularly during the course of the Fellowship for their media house. Journalists may produce stories in any medium, including print, online, radio, broadcast and more.

Throughout the program, participating journalists are free to report as they see fit; however, as part of our program we may provide extra training or activities related to certain thematic topics, and encourage stories on these topics. We do ask that Fellows adhere to some basic editorial standards (which will be shared at the start of the Fellowship) and these guidelines:

• Language of publication: Stories produced as a result of this fellowship can be in any language. We ask that fellows provide high-quality English summaries of stories produced in other languages and fully translate at least one of their stories into English so it can be shared with a wider audience. Fellows may use a tool like DeepL or other automated translation apps for this purpose.
• Acknowledgement of support: Published stories and/or broadcasts produced as part of the CCMP Fellowship must disclose support by including this tagline, “This story was produced as part of the Climate Change Media Partnership COP29 Reporting Fellowship, organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.” Published stories and/or broadcasts produced as part of the CBD Fellowship must disclose support by including this tagline “This story was produced as part of the CBD COP16 Reporting Fellowship, organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.”
• Republication rights: Those who are awarded fellowships are free to publish or broadcast stories produced as a result of the Fellowship first in their affiliated media as long as Internews’ EJN, its local and regional partner sites and the grant funders are also given rights to edit, republish, broadcast and distribute them freely. Stories that are filed by participating journalists may be republished on EJN’s website.

Application process

• Click the ‘Apply now’ button at the top of the page.
• If you have an existing account, you’ll need to log in. Since we recently updated our website, you might have to reset your password by clicking the “Forgot password?” link in the log in page. If you don’t have an account, you must register by clicking “Log in” on the top right of the page and click the “Sign up” link at the bottom of the page that opens.
• Click here for detailed instructions on how to create an account, and here for detailed instructions on how to reset your password.
• If you start the application and want to come back and complete it later, you can click ‘Save Draft.’ To return to the draft, you’ll need to go back to the opportunity and click ‘Apply now’ again to finalize the application.
• All applicants are required to provide a signed letter of support from their editor, explicitly stating that the media outlet will publish the stories produced as a result of this grant.
• Applicants will also need to submit two samples of stories or links to relevant work. Note: You’ll be asked to upload these supporting documents once you start the application process, so please have them handy.

If you encounter difficulties with submitting your application or have questions about the grants, please email info.ejn@internews.org. Do not contact any other Internews email regarding this opportunity, as we will not receive it.