Environmental Investigative Journalism Grants 2024

The journalism grant program funds in-depth investigative journalism that breaks new ground and reveals further information about environmental crimes occurring within or across developing countries. They seek high-impact reporting, especially on issues that mainstream media neglects.

They seek high-impact reporting, especially on issues that mainstream media neglects. They invite proposals for projects on various media platforms, including audio and multimedia projects. Proposals for data journalism, data visualisation, and open-source intelligence (OSINT) journalism are encouraged.

Priorities

• Will be given priority to stories:
  • Highlighting environmental justice issues and illicit financial flows.
  • With innovative format (multi format, audio, story-map) and data presentations (visual, graphical), especially when using AI, remote sensing technologies and open source information.

Themes

• This year, themes they are interested in funding include (but are not limited to):
  • Illegal wildlife trade and poaching, in particular, illegal trade taking place online and at the international level;
  • Illegal logging and timber trade, including fraud in the carbon offset market or “greenwashing”.
  • Illegal mining, particularly minerals used for “green energy”, and improper disposal.
  • High-seas crimes and deep-sea mining;
  • Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fisheries;
  • Water management involving land use injustices and transboundary collaboration implications.
  • Waste crimes, mainly related to the illicit trade and dumping of plastic waste, E-waste and electronics consumption;
  • Impact of armed conflicts on the environment;
  • Criminalisation and silencing of environmentalists’ defenders.

Funding Information

• In 2024, they are offering a total of six grants, each representing 20,000 Norwegian kroner (approximately €2,000).

Additional Support

• GRID-Arendal additional support:
  • This year, GRID-Arendal will offer additional support to grantees, which can include graphic design, GIS data management, scientific expertise, mentoring and training, depending on their needs.
  • In the case of projects that involve travel to indigenous, isolated, or vulnerable communities, they will require a plan to preserve those communities’ safety.
  • The deadline for finishing a project will be six months from signing a grant agreement. Funded stories are expected to acknowledge the grant support from GRID-Arendal and allow re-publication on their website.

Eligibility Criteria

• You must be a professional journalist, either a staff member at a media organisation or a freelancer with a record of publishing work in respected media organisations.
• You must not have benefited from the GRID-Arendal Grant in the past.
• You must have experience in investigative journalism.
• It would be best if you were used to working with deadlines and following an agreed-upon publication plan.
• You must speak English or have the means to translate your story into English.
• Journalists from anywhere in the world are welcome to apply. They encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds.

For more information, visit GRID-Arendal.