Reporting on our planet has become a risky business, according to a new report published Friday on World Press Freedom Day. It found hundreds of journalists worldwide have been attacked and dozens killed over the past 15 years covering issues like climate change, mining and deforestation.
The survey by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, and the International Federation of Journalists offered a chilling snapshot of the dangers of environmental journalism — along with the risk posed by environmental skeptics and deniers of key issues like climate change.
"The most concerning data is the overall result — that 70% of journalists interviewed said to us that while reporting on environmental issues, they have suffered at least one type of violence or attack. Which is very high,” said Guilherme Canela, who leads UNESCO’s Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists section.
The study’s findings are based on interviews with more than 900 journalists reporting on environmental issues in 129 countries between 2009 and 2023. They show a sharp rise in attacks — by more than 40% over the last five years. That includes everything from physical attacks, like assaults and arrests, to lawsuits and digital or online aggression.
Over the past 15 years, it found, 44 journalists have been killed and another 39 jailed covering environmental stories.
"Of the 44 killings, in only five cases, there was a judicial decision regarding these killings," Canela said. "So, it’s not only a high level regarding the killings but also a high-level impunity rate regarding these killings."
A case in point, Canela said, was the 2022 killing of British journalist Dom Phillips, who was investigating the environmental devastation in the Amazon. Phillips had received death threats before he was killed. Brazilian police have since arrested several suspects.
Canela can only theorize about why environmental attacks are rising.
"First, it shows that journalists are reporting more on environmental issues, and therefore, probably annoying more all the powerful interests, whichever they are, that, that are related to this," Canela said.
Additionally, environmental reporting often means going to remote locations. The report notes that small, underfunded news outlets and independent reporters tend to be those covering environmental stories — making them all the more vulnerable to danger.
