WACC was delighted to see Internews open the Earth Journalism Awards competition on World Environment Day with a call to professional and citizen journalists around the world to enter their best reporting on climate change. Winners will be flown to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen this December, where they will cover these pivotal negotiations and be honoured at a high-profile awards ceremony.

“It is very important to deepen public understanding of climate change and the urgent need for an agreement in Copenhagen. The media has a vital role to play both in explaining what is required for the world to be able to make a dramatic shift towards a low carbon society and to be able to adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change. I welcome, therefore, the Earth Journalism Awards initiative”, said Yvo de Boer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from the ongoing Bonn Climate Change Talks.

At Copenhagen, 200 countries will be concluding negotiations on the future of the Kyoto Protocol to combat climate change. The complexity and potential impact of the measures under negotiation in December make Copenhagen one of the most significant gatherings in history.

Internews established the Earth Journalism Awards this year to encourage and celebrate the best media coverage of climate change and the Copenhagen agenda. Internews has designed the awards to be as accessible and relevant as possible to national, local and citizen media around the world.

A total of 14 awards are now open for entry:  Seven Regional Awards on current affairs and news reporting on climate change: Eurasia, South Asia, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, and North America, Europe & Australia.

Six Thematic Awards: The Negotiations Award, The Human Voices Award, The Energy Award, The Forests Award, The Climate Change and Nature Award, The Climate Change Adaptation Award.

The 14th award – the Global Public Award – will be chosen by the public, which will be invited to vote online for the best story drawn from the winning regional and thematic awards through a social networking campaign on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

A 7th thematic award - The MTV Positive Change Award - will be open for entry from June 22 2009. The winning journalists will be invited to Copenhagen for a high-profile ceremony held during the conference and will receive support from Internews to report from COP15 for their home media.  Journalists can see details of the awards and register and upload their entries until September 7 2009 (12.00 pm, Paris-time, GMT+2).

“Accurate, understandable reporting on climate change is essential in order to engage the public and their leaders to work for the best policy solutions,” said James Fahn, the Director of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network. “Particularly in the developing world, where most of the impact of climate change is being felt, citizens have an urgent need to understand what is at stake at Copenhagen and beyond, and local media are the key to this understanding.”

Further information

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