South America

Environmental journalists from around the country and beyond will gather in Houston later this month for the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 31st annual conference. Widely known as the energy capital of the world, this highly diverse city is an ideal place to drill down on the causes and consequences of climate change and other environmental issues of the day.

The climate-security nexus has drawn attention from the Biden administration, but less so elsewhere, even as security experts worry about climate change as a threat multiplier that can exacerbate other causes of conflict. Our new Backgrounder explores these concerns, with a look at how the issue has played out in recent U.S. politics. Plus, seven global regions where climate change may worsen ongoing conflict.

Three teams of video journalists descended on the Brazilian Amazon amid some of its worst-ever fires to capture efforts of Indigenous rainforest “guardians” to protect it from destruction. They returned with award-winning reporting, but also a deeper understanding of the region and its people, and of how to bring the climate change story closer to home. They share their experiences, in the new EJ InSight.

Cuando los programas de intercambio para estudiantes de periodismo fueron cancelados a causa del COVID 19, el personal docente de dos importantes universidades – una en Estados Unidos y otra en Colombia- recurrió a su creatividad, mediante la construcción de un escenario de intercambio virtual colaborativo sobre asuntos medioambientales de preocupación para ambos países. La EJ Academy explica el funcionamiento de dicho intercambio y augura programas similares en el futuro.

When COVID-19 shut down plans for journalism study abroad, faculty at two prominent universities — one in the United States and the other in Colombia — got creative, building out a collaborative virtual exchange focused on environmental concerns in the two countries. The latest EJ Academy explains how the virtual exchange worked, and the promise of similar programs in the future.