Earth Day: protecting reliable journalism, a pillar in the fight against global warming

All over the world, journalists covering environmental issues are obstructed, threatened, censored and even murdered. With COP30 approaching - to be held in Belém, Brazil, next November - RSF is highlighting the need to protect reliable journalism and journalists covering environmental issues as fundamental pillars in the fight against climate change.

RSF highlights some of the main obstacles to journalists covering environmental issues. The need to protect these journalists is just as important as making the protection of reliable journalism a crucial part of the fight against climate change.

• Nearly 30 journalists killed in a decade: since 2015, nearly 30 journalists have been killed for covering environmental issues, including 13 in India, among them Shubham Mani Tripathi, who was shot dead in Uttar Pradesh on 19 June 2020 after exposing the 'sand mafia'. Journalist Chhoeung Chheng died from his injurieson 7 December 2024 after being shot while investigating a case of illegal deforestation in north-western Cambodia. In the Philippines, radio presenter Cresencio Bunduquin paid with his life on 31 May 2023 for reporting, among other things, on an oil spill caused by a tanker whose licence had allegedly been falsified. On 5 June 2022, British journalist Dom Phillips, who specialised in the Amazon and environmental issues, and his guide, Brazilian indigenous rights activist Bruno Pereira, disappeared in the Javari Valley in the state of Amazonas in Brazil. They were brutally murderedfor their work exposing environmental abuses, among other things.

• Hundreds of attacks:In the Brazilian Amazon, RSF recorded 85 press freedom violations between 30 June 2022 and July 2024, illustrating the ongoing insecurity faced by journalists covering environmental issues in the region. Between threats, attacks and administrative obstacles, working conditions are marked by latent violence reinforced by persistent political and economic pressure. Faced with this hostile climate, many media professionals are forced to self-censor for fear of reprisals. In Europe, too, environmental journalists can face more insidious attempts at intimidation, particularly when covering gatherings related to environmental issues. In Ghana, several journalists investigating illegal mining were violently attacked in February 2025, even though they were under police escort.

• Arbitrary imprisonment: this is one of the major threats facing journalists covering environmental issues. Nargiz Absalamova, who has been detainedsince 30 November 2023 on false charges of 'smuggling foreign currency'. She had been covering protests a few months earlier by residents of the village of Söyüdlü, in western Azerbaijan, who had been affected by toxic waste from an open-pit gold mine. Her colleague, Elmaddin Shamilzade, was arrested two weeks later. He was tortured and threatened with rape by a police officer who wanted to obtain the access code to his phone in order to delete photos of the event. In Uzbekistan, journalists have been imprisoned for years for investigating sensitive environmental issues, such as Solidjon Abdourakhmanov, who was released in 2017 after nine years behind bars. In India, journalist Rupesh Kumar Singhhas been detained since 17 July 2022 after publishinga report on the Janchowk news website about the health disasters caused by industrial pollution affecting residents of the town of Giridih, in Jharkhand state.

• Harassment and smear campaigns: Environmental journalists are also the target of online smear campaigns aimed at discrediting their work and intimidating them. In Europe, journalists have been profiled and accused of conflicts of interestby the pesticide industry for highlighting the dangers of pesticides. In France, two journalists who had been subjected to pressure, including acts of vandalism, for their local investigative work on environmental issues decided in 2021 to found the Breton investigative media outlet Splann,which specialises in environmental issues.

• Particularly risky topics: Certain topics covered by journalists are particularly sensitive and expose journalists to increased risks due to the powerful economic and political interests at stake. This is particularly the case with investigations into the 'sand mafia', which revealed illegal trafficking linked to sand extraction, or into deforestation in the Amazon, which often involves armed actors or actors linked to criminal networks. Mining, particularly in remote or unregulated areas, and intensive agribusiness, which generates conflicts over land grabbing, are also high-risk areas for investigation. Finally, coverage of violations of the rights of indigenous peoples exposes journalists to reprisals when they document abuses or oppose destructive projects on their ancestral lands. These topics therefore require increased security measures and particular attention to source protection.

• High-risk areas:Certain regions of the world have a particularly alarming level of violence against journalists investigating environmental issues. South and Southeast Asia stand out for their dramatic concentration of abuses: nearly 90% of the world's recorded killings of environmental journalists have been committed there, with countries such as India, Cambodia, the Philippines and Indonesia at the forefront. In India, for example, of the 28 journalists murdered during Narendra Modi's ten years in power, nearly half were working on sensitive environmental investigations, particularly into land expropriation and industrial mining projects. The Amazon has become another critical hotspot, where journalists are the target of constant threats and operate in a climate of impunity and lack of protection. In its report The Burning Ground of Journalism in the Amazon, published in September 2023, RSF had already sounded the alarm about the growing risks faced by journalists covering this strategic region, making five concrete recommendations to strengthen their safety and improve their working conditions. These high-risk areas illustrate the extreme vulnerability of journalists who are on the front line of the fight for environmental justice. While Asia and South America are the most dangerous places for journalists covering these issues, countries practising extractivism are also proving to be risky terrain for this type of reporting. Indeed, two-thirds of the world's natural resourcesare extracted in countries where press freedom is seriously threatened.

• Misinformation on climate change issues: a scourge. Misinformation on climate issues is now a global scourge, seriously undermining the quality of public debate and hindering climate action. RSF and the Forum on Information and Democracyhave highlighted the growing scale and sophistication of these disinformation campaigns, which are often orchestrated by economic interest groups or relayed by political actors seeking to sow doubt about the scientific consensus. Combating this disinformation requires strengthening media independence, promoting rigorous journalism and establishing transparent mechanisms for regulating digital platforms.