What is Our Work/Environment?
Our Work/Environment is a journalism initiative to support reporting on global climate risks playing out in fields and on factory floors and discussed in company boardrooms. Our stories document some of the real-world problems for workers as temperatures rise, and they illuminate the working conditions of people in climate-vulnerable spots.
Why is this connection important?
Climate change can no longer be ignored but the labor risks —from health challenges to potential job loss—often go unreported. Workers and companies across the world are facing rising temperatures, sea-level threats, and unsustainable work practices. How can we encourage communities, workers and companies to confront a common challenge?
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Our Work/Environment Dialogues offer an opportunity for meaningful discussions about the climate risks faced by diverse business sectors and the implications for workers’ rights in different regions. Discover three key topics in these dialogues with experts, workers, and journalists who are focused on climate and labor issues.
Help spread the word
Individual voices can be very powerful in raising awareness about the connection between climate change and labor. Download our campaign brief for a comprehensive overview, or share our graphics and videos on your social media profiles.
EXPLORE FACT-BASED JOURNALISM
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
The Impact of Extreme Heat on Delivery Workers
PARAGUAY | What do delivery workers have to go through when temperatures rise to 35 to 40 degrees Celsius (95 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit)? What do their bodies experience? How do they cope? Do they have access to drinking water or proper clothing to protect themselves?
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
Feeding the World’s Most Populous Country Amid Climate Change
INDIA | Poor people in India didn’t contribute to global warming, but they suffer the worst consequences of it.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
The Fight To Protect Outdoor Laborers From High Heat
UNITED STATES | Despite record-breaking heat this summer, there is no federal safety standard to protect outdoor workers.
GRANTS FOR JOURNALISTS
The Pulitzer Center, a nonprofit organization that supports independent global journalism, is now accepting applications for a reporting initiative focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work. Click here to learn more about what a successful climate and labor proposal would look like.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT GRANT
Climate and Labor Reporting Grant
The Pulitzer Center is now accepting applications for a reporting grant focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT GRANT
Film Opportunity on Climate Change
The Pulitzer Center, the Financial Times, and One World Media are excited to announce a new film partnership focused on climate change and how work and workers are affected. We’re looking for an experienced filmmaker who wants to explore, through a short documentary, how climate change is affecting lives and work in the Global South.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT GRANT
Impact Seed Funding
The Impact Seed Fund (ISF) is a micro-grant designed to help enrich the perspectives of university educators as they engage students—through Pulitzer-supported journalism—and the intersection of climate change and labor rights.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT GRANT
Global Reporting Grant
The Pulitzer Center’s global reporting grants support in-depth, high-impact reporting on critical issues that are often overlooked in the media, from global health to climate change.
REPORTING ON CLIMATE AND LABOR
We believe in expansively sharing methodologies and practical advice from the journalism that we support. The Pulitzer Center and its journalists share databases and project plans as resources for newsrooms, universities, and civil society organizations.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE
We Worked With Scientists To Measure the Impact of Extreme Heat on Urban Workers
This report combines using accessible technology, working closely with the intended audience’s communities, and collaborating with a leading scientist in the field of heat and labor studies, which was fundamental to the success of the investigation.
Leer en español.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE
How We Used Open Data To Report on Coastal Consequences of Climate Change in Uruguay
“From drought to floods: The impact on work in the coastal zone of Uruguay, from East to West” is the most ambitious work we have done at Amenaza Roboto, a science and technology journalism website based in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Leer en español.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE
How We Did It: Extreme Heat Is Endangering America’s Workers—And Its Economy
"But the more I dug into my reporting about heat, labor, and climate change, the more I realized that labor conditions in the countries that were producing much of that negative press were not doing much better, and in many cases, were actually much worse."
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE
Ask Me Anything: Our Work/Environment Reporting Grants
Our Work/Environment is the Pulitzer Center’s reporting grant which aims for journalists to report on the intersection of climate change, labor rights, and industries. We are interested in hearing from workers and employers who see climate change directly affecting their workplaces and we want to know their solutions.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE
Climate Change and Labor: The Media Landscape
This needs-assessment seeks to identify key intersectional issues, analyze previous reporting and journalist capacity on labor/climate issues, and gather input on what media outlets require in order to achieve a significant scaling in coverage of these issues.
CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT EVENT
2023 Climate & Labor Conference
With a global and regional focus, the conference cultivated powerful discussions amongst the academics, journalists, students, and social movements that are framing the future narrative of this issue in the context of climate justice. Attendees engaged in discussions on climate and labor themes, including global power, social justice, health, capitalism, colonialism, extreme heat, and land rights.
EXTERNAL RESOURCE
The Investigative Agenda for Climate Change Journalism | Global Investigative Journalism Network
"Climate change is by far the biggest story we’ve ever had to cover because it’s by far the biggest thing that human beings have ever done by orders of magnitude larger than anything else. And so there are an almost endless number of places to go poke and look and examine. The most obvious is money."
STAY IN TOUCH
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