Pulitzer Center Awards Climate Grants Ahead of Global Summit

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In January, the Pulitzer Center launched a special call to support journalism and civil society initiatives focusing on the upcoming United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP), a global climate summit that will take place in Belém, Brazil, this year. Through this special call, we aim to bring stories and initiatives that can highlight urgent issues to decision-makers, connect local issues to global challenges, provide verified content to inform important discussions, and foster multi-stakeholder dialogues to inspire action.

The Pulitzer Center received more than 600 applications from around the world, reinforcing that climate issues are crucial concerns for global communities. The selected journalism projects are aimed at illuminating urgent climate issues, including the governance of rainforest and ocean ecosystems, the critical roles of Indigenous communities in managing and conserving their environment, carbon credit mechanisms and accountability, and practices that expose the environmental harms in the Amazon region, where COP30 is taking place. 

The selected civil society initiatives will strengthen civic engagement, foster public debate, and drive meaningful audience engagement that will lead to impactful conversations at the COP30 convening.

Below are the list of selected journalism and civil society applicants:
 

Selected journalism projects

1. Jake Brittle is reporting on Suriname, a country in South America with a landscape of 98 percent forest that is now embarking on new offshore oil exploration with France's Total. Aimed to be solar-powered and leak-free, this operation will be bundled with carbon credits in the United Nations carbon market. Is this an example of a young state threading the needle between resource extraction and climate action, or an unfortunate case of a poor nation being pushed into climate hypocrisy by generations of debt?

2. John Joseph Devlin will look into ineffective funding models and showcase innovative solutions for rainforest conservation based on the lessons in the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Indonesia. Close to $2 billion was pledged to support Indigenous-led forest conservation at COP26. Today a fraction of that money has been distributed to local communities directly, despite increasing evidence that they are the most effective guardians of the forest. Complex funding mechanisms can be one reason.

3. Vitor Hugo Brandalise will look into the struggle of Brazilian Indigenous communities to guarantee their fundamental rights. With a strong narrative approach, he and his team will focus on cultural identity, religious freedom, and education. They will also look into the policies that help safeguard these rights and the gaps still to be overcome.

4. A Papua-based outlet led by Dominggus Mampioper will look into how the traditional practice of Sasi contributes to the marine ecosystem, blue carbon, and the blue economy, as well as the roles of environmental organizations and local government in safeguarding the region’s marine ecosystem. Sasi is a traditional marine conservation practice of an Indigenous community in West Papua, Indonesia, which has shown encouraging biodiversity results around Teluk Wondama.

5. In Cambodia, Sea Eung and Leila Goldstein will examine how carbon credit projects, old and new, are being implemented and the on-the-ground realities for Cambodians living within REDD+ projects, which are advertised as a significant solution to corporate carbon emissions.

6. Didier Hubert Madafime will analyze how carbon credit mechanisms can support Benin's climate commitments, notably its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by tackling the challenges of governance and inclusion of rural populations.

7. Despite an import ban, Bangladesh has become a major destination for "recycling" U.S. plastic waste. Najifa Farhat will examine how the waste is transported, the regulation that enables the practice, and the public health and environmental impacts on the people who sort the waste in a dirty, poorly paid, and labor-intensive process.

8. John Reid will investigate how Isolated Indigenous peoples have been protecting the most intact, carbon-rich, and biodiverse parts of the Amazon. These populations are, in theory, protected by policies and laws in most of the basin's countries, but in fact are pressured by the advance of extractive industries, settlers, and missionaries.

9. Alice Martins and Daniel Nardin will investigate how scientific innovation can help reduce climate risks, including the impacts of drought and high temperatures, which directly affect traditional communities in the Amazon.

10. Diana Takacsova will report on how carbon credit projects violate the human rights of Kenya’s Indigenous communities.

11. Hervé Mukulu will talk with scientists and visit farmers who are struggling to adapt with the new seeds brought to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the country, farmers have been experiencing disruption in the rainy seasons that expose their plants to diseases, resulting in the lack of agricultural production. To help them mitigate, some organizations and the government have introduced new seeds coming from West Africa 10 years ago. Are these new seeds efficient as expected?

Selected civil society projects

1. Ancestral Futures brings Cambodian Indigenous people's role in forest conservation to center stage through an online exhibition of Pulitzer Center-supported reporting, a repository documenting the Kui people’s knowledge, and collaborations with content creators. Co-led by YEP and Miguel Jeronimo, a photographer and curator, the project amplifies Indigenous voices through dialogue and creative storytelling.

2. IKLIM, co-led by musician Robby Navicula and Kopernik co-founder Ewa Wojkowska, fosters knowledge exchange between journalists and musicians to shape contextualized climate narratives. Bringing together artists, journalists, and civil society organizations, the initiative explores climate and environmental issues, amplified through music and digital campaigns, inspiring broader audiences and strengthening climate storytelling.

3. Justice through Inclusion, Transparency and Governance in the Energy Transition is a project led by Bantay Kita in the Philippines. It engages communities on the impact of extractive industries and their role in pushing for greater accountability. Pulitzer Center-supported reporting will be used in a campaign and workshops to equip community members with information and tools, preparing them to actively participate in a multi-stakeholder dialogue, contributing to discussions on transparency and accountability in the energy transition.

4. Climate x Education x Diplomacy, led by Dylan Pereira, aims to build the first cohort of 30 Venezuelan youth from diverse communities across the country, training them in climate action, diplomacy, and leadership through a two-month hybrid program. Supported by key organizations and experts in diplomacy, journalism, and climate issues, it empowers participants to develop collaborative environmental projects and promote climate justice in their communities. By fostering a new generation of climate leaders, the initiative seeks to address Venezuela’s environmental crises and prepare participants to contribute meaningfully to climate negotiations.

5. Led by Norka Paz, Murals of Resistance combines art and journalism to highlight environmental crises in Bolivia. The artist will create four murals in cities where communities are affected by fires and illegal mining, integrating QR codes into the murals with links to Pulitzer Center-supported reports that address these topics. The initiative aims to amplify Indigenous voices, influence climate policies, and raise awareness ahead of COP30.

6. Free Water, Free News for the Climate, spearheaded by Patricksandre da Silva, will raise awareness about the climate crisis and its impact on vulnerable delivery workers in Belém, the city hosting COP30. In one of the places with higher temperatures in Brazil, outdoor workers are very vulnerable to heat, suffering the most from the impact it has on their health and well-being. This initiative will focus on informing and engaging workers in discussions about climate-related risks while distributing essential items—water, sunscreen, and UV shirts—as protective measures for delivery workers in Belém. Ideas generated from the discussions will be captured and distributed on digital platforms.

7. Echoes of Regeneration: Amazon and Deforestation, led by Daniel Gutiérrez Patiño, promotes public dialogue and transparency in meat supply chains to combat Amazon deforestation, drawing inspiration from Pulitzer Center-supported reports. Through social media campaigns, debates, workshops, and a culminating conference, it engages youth across Colombia. The project aims to inspire collective action and ecocentric transformation by fostering informed narratives and active community participation.

8. Southeast Coastal Connections, by Cristiana Losekann, will hold virtual workshops, an in-person meeting, and a public maritime event with the goal of connecting associations, local communities, social movements, citizens, researchers, and journalists to address socio-environmental and climate issues, based on reporting supported by the Pulitzer Center. Discussions will cover topics such as the impact of oil companies on coastal communities and plastic pollution on marine ecosystems, as well as ocean resilience, and will be structured in the form of policy papers.

9. Urban Amazon, by Gabriel Marmentini, seeks to engage young people in environmental issues, addressing issues of urbanization, climate change, and the waste management crisis in Belém. Inspired by reporting supported by the Pulitzer Center, the digital campaign will make complex topics more accessible through social media videos, quizzes, and interactive virtual tools. The initiative will address, in the context of Belém, topics such as urbanization challenges in the Amazon, low sewage levels and their impact on quality of life, extreme weather events, green solutions, and active citizenship.

10. Working Heat, led by Caio Barroso, addresses the critical impact of heat stress on workers and Indigenous peoples, based on reports from the Pulitzer Center. Through a campaign involving digital influencers and an in-person event, the initiative aims to discuss mitigation strategies, empower workers to protect themselves from extreme heat, and contribute to a safer and fairer work environment, while centering the intersection between climate and labor in the context of COP30 in Brazil.

11. Promoting Transparent Governance and Climate Action in Burundi, by Sylvère Nibaruta, fosters a multi-stakeholder dialogue between local communities, public authorities, journalists, and academics to improve the natural resources management and encourage responsible and sustainable public policies. The project leverages Pulitzer Center-supported stories to structure and facilitate discussions on issues such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, and the impact of climate change on local communities.

12. Synergies for a Climate Resilient Turkana Pastoralists Community, led by Enock Mong’are, focuses on building climate resilience and peacebuilding among nomadic pastoralists in the Turkana region in Kenya. Green Initiative Kakuma and its partners will use Pulitzer Center journalism to foster community dialogues and promote community-driven solutions to climate-induced conflicts. The project is aligned with COP30 themes by fostering climate adaptation discussions within affected communities.

13. Through the Eyes of Youth is a photography competition and storytelling initiative to empower youth to document environmental challenges and solutions. Led by Vanessa Sarmiento Alarcón and Afrisos (African School of Storytelling), it features storytelling workshops, a photography exhibition, and interactive discussions. The project will use Pulitzer Center-supported journalism as inspiration and will culminate in the Kili Kids Festival in Tanzania. It supports the goals of COP30 by amplifying youth voices in climate storytelling and fostering a deeper understanding of environmental issues.