Free Press Unlimited and the Stanley Foundation are bringing regional and local journalists from ten countries together to participate in the Planetary Security Conference 2019. In a four-day programme, the journalists will engage with policymakers and others to report on climate and security topics. They will also share their own perspectives as local journalists experiencing climate impacts first-hand.
Failed harvests, large-scale floods, migration and war: climate change is linked to all of these threats. In many places, journalists encounter these themes in their work. They talk with people who live and work in rural areas that are most affected by the destabilising impacts of climate change. They also see how these impacts intersect with other regional or local tensions. This gives them a rare perspective that can help policymakers come up with possible solutions to climate and security challenges.
Exchange of perspectives
Free Press Unlimited and the Stanley Foundation have partnered to bring 15 journalists to this year’s Planetary Security Conference in The Hague in February 2019. At the conference, politicians, diplomats, researchers and environmental advocates from around the world will exchange knowledge and explore solutions to the interconnected challenges of climate change, water management and conflict.
Journalists invited are from countries including Mali, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, Pakistan, Jamaica and Haiti - where the effects of climate change are already being felt. They work for local media and cover a wide range of issues, including climate change, development, water, conflict, human rights, migration, gender and politics.
Fellows will report on the conference itself. They are also a source of information and expertise on their own regions to others attending the conference. A media hub will allow for dialogue between fellows, other members of the press and conference attendees.
Reporting with impact
As part of the media fellowship, in the days before and after the conference, Free Press Unlimited and the Stanley Foundation are organising a training programme for the 15 journalists. Led by seasoned journalists, Ricci Shryock and Khaled Suleiman, the fellows will learn how to report with more impact on climate change and conflict in their communities.
During the conference, Free Press Unlimited and the Stanley Foundation are also convening a session on reporting climate and security that will be open to all conference participants. The session deals with the role of local journalists in communicating the climate and security story: What are innovative storytelling approaches that resonate with local audiences? How can journalists link the local situation to global developments? How can they contribute to positive social change and hold power to account?
As media partners of the Planetary Security Conference, Free Press Unlimited and the Stanley Foundation want to promote better collaboration between the media, civil society and policymakers. This exchange of perspectives is a step in the direction of limiting the negative impacts of climate change and promoting peace and security.