How do you tell the story of the climate crisis in climate-vulnerable countries? By listening, learning, and building on the strength of local journalists and media organizations to tell that story.
From extreme weather events to slow on-set events, India’s climate story provides a snapshot of the plight of climate-vulnerable countries in dealing with the multitude of climate crisis impacts.
The India Climate Journalism Program–designed through a partnership between The Associated Press’ Global Climate Desk, the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, and The Press Trust of India (PTI)– was initiated to strengthen and elevate the work of local journalists who are telling that story of the climate crisis in India.
PTI, the largest news agency in India, is committed to telling that story through its national reach and a team of journalists across the country.
This program partners AP journalists and editors with PTI journalists and editors in a peer-to-peer mentorship arrangement that enables both to learn from each other while strengthening the way PTI covers climate in India.
The program integrates contextual knowledge of the climate crisis, key skills and knowledge to effectively report on climate, and explores the nuances of covering climate in India.
PTI journalists report in real time to produce compelling stories from Kochi, a region in India at the frontlines of the climate crisis.
As an extension to the program in Kochi, the COP28 Climate Journalism Fellowship will bring one PTI fellow and one AP mentor to report on location at the UN climate change conference in Dubai (COP28) in collaboration with AP and the Stanley Center.
TOP IMAGE: AP.
Rising seas from climate change are bringing saltwater into the fresh water of places like Chellanam, near Kochi, rendering unusable what had been a vital part of everyday life.
IMAGE CREDIT: Uzmi Athar/Press Trust of India via AP.
Kochi, a city that’s boomed as the financial capital of India’s Kerala state, has squeezed its forests, known as the “green lung of Kochi” and now surrounded from all sides by tall buildings and smog.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
Eloor, a small island on the Periyar River in southern India, was once a rich farmland and teeming with fish. Now, a stench of putrid flesh permeates the air and most of the fish are gone.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
Tens of millions of people in India live along coastlines, exposing them to major weather events like cyclones, surging seas, flooding and erosion. Some of them are counting on a simple adaptation to help them: sea walls.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
Known locally as “Mangrove Man”, T. P. Murukesan has turned to planting mangroves along the shores of areas around Kochi to counter the impacts of rising waters on his home. “Only these can save us,” he said.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
Ramping up ways to warn people about extreme weather disasters is becoming increasingly important for India—set to become the world’s most populous nation and one of the most vulnerable to climate change.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
Rice is the staple of southern and eastern parts of India, and is highly water intensive. Pokkali, by contrast, doesn’t require groundwater for irrigation, as it is cultivated in low lying wetlands that are inundated with rain water.
IMAGE CREDIT: AP.
