Delivering the solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and other clean technologies the world needs to meet its climate goals requires a massive expansion of the supply chains responsible for producing them.  

From mining and processing critical minerals, to assembling, transporting and installing these technologies across the world, the transition away from a fossil fuel-powered society requires a huge shift, which could help support the creation of thriving economies and millions of jobs.  

At the same time, the transition away from coal, oil and gas requires a multitude of new resources, the extraction and processing of which can cause social and environmental harms if improperly managed.  

Delivering a fast and fair energy transition means avoiding the pitfalls of the extractive fossil-fuel economy and building new industries which can benefit workers and communities everywhere. 

What we are looking for 

Our “Clean Energy Frontier” series aims to produce hard-hitting accountability journalism on these issues. 

In our first series, we reported on lithium mining booms in Zimbabwe and Argentina; explored India’s dream of building its own solar supply chain; uncovered accusations of rights abuses linked to an Indonesian nickel park; delved into efforts to recycle rare earths in Canada; and examined Swedish company Northvolt’s sodium-ion battery plans.  

In our second series, we are looking for longform stories (1,500-1,700 words) that explore how the energy transition can help support sustainable development, address inequalities and create jobs.  

We are interested in stories that illustrate the opportunities and challenges of the transition and how it can be funded (especially in developing countries), spotlight geopolitical and trade tensions and efforts to address them, expose harms, and examine how technologies are transferred from wealthy to poorer countries. 

Each story should blend on-the-ground reporting with investigative or explanatory journalism.   

We particularly welcome strong character-driven stories and the use of data or satellite images to unveil new trends. The ideal story will have an original angle that captures the attention of our international audience.  

We plan to publish six deeply reported articles between November 2024 and June 2025. We are seeking stories from around the world and we encourage journalists from developing countries to send us their ideas. 

Stories should be accompanied by visual elements, including high-quality photos and video, and we encourage partnerships between journalists and photographers.  

How to pitch 

Join us for an hour webinar at 12pm GMT on August 20 2024 to find out what we expect from your pitches. Sign up here.  

We welcome pitches from journalists with at least three years’ experience. You must have fluent spoken and written English. Journalists from all countries are welcome to apply. It helps if you have worked with international media before and have awareness of climate change issues. 

Your pitch should include: 

• The top line of the story and essential context in no more than 250 words. If we like the idea, we will ask for more detail 

• The sources you would interview 

• Any travel requirements 

• A short summary of your journalism experience, including links to three recent stories you are proud of 

• A link to the portfolio of the photographer you are planning to work with.  

We can offer a competitive reporting fee, as well as an additional budget to commission photographers and cover travel and accommodation expenses. Travel costs will be negotiated in advance and reimbursed subject to valid receipts. 

Please send your pitches with the word ‘Pitch’ in the subject line to project editor Chloé Farand by emailing chloe.farand [at] outlook.com.  

The post Call for pitches: Climate Home News seeks story ideas on clean energy supply chains appeared first on Climate Home News.

Climate Home News is seeking stories on the global renewable energy supply chain.

The rapid deployment of renewable energy is critical for the world to meet its climate goals. This requires a massive expansion of the renewable energy supply chain, from the critical minerals required to manufacture solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries to the skills and jobs needed to produce, assemble, and install them.

Yet, large parts of this supply chain are concentrated in a few countries (including China) and dominated by a handful of companies. This rapidly-growing industry has at times pitted the clean energy transition against human rights and other environmental impacts, and sparked conflicts over land and water resources.

Delivering a fast and fair energy transition means avoiding the pitfalls of the extractive fossil-fuel economy. Responsible extraction and production, and centering local communities and workers’ rights could spur sustainable development and create good jobs.

What we are looking for

Our ‘Clean Energy Frontiers’ series aims to produce hard-hitting accountability journalism on the changing-landscape of the renewable energy supply chain.

Stories should spotlight bottlenecks, scrutinise key actors, and expose environmental impacts, and human and labour rights violations. We are also looking for stories robustly examining solutions to these challenges, including through innovation.

This could include examining the plans of emerging transition mineral producers, exposing working conditions in manufacturing processes, investigating the relationship between coal power and clean technology production, and assessing early efforts to address waste.

We plan to publish six deeply reported articles by June 2024. We are seeking stories from around the world and we encourage journalists from developing countries to send us their ideas.

The ideal story will capture the attention of our international audience by providing an original angle, highlight (geo)political tensions or controversy, and combine on-the-ground reporting (when appropriate) with investigative journalism techniques.

Stories should include visual elements (such as satellite images, high-quality photos and videos) and we encourage partnerships between journalists and photographers. A graphic designer is working with us to support the creation of graphics and illustrations.

How to pitch

If you are a journalist with at least three years’ experience, please send us your pitches. You must have fluent spoken and written English. Journalists from all countries are welcome to apply. It helps if you have worked with international media before and have awareness of climate change issues.

Your pitch should include:

• The top line of the story and essential context in no more than 200 words. If we like the idea, we will ask for more detail
• The sources you would interview
• Any travel requirements
• A short summary of your journalism experience, including links to three recent stories you are proud of.

We can offer a reporting fee of around $1,600 per story, including photos and videos, in addition to covering travel and accommodation expenses. Travel costs will be negotiated in advance and reimbursed subject to valid receipts.

Please send your pitches with the word ‘Pitch’ in the subject line to project editor Chloé Farand by emailing chloe.farand@outlook.com. We will commission the first three stories by late October and continue to review pitches until February 2024 for publication by June next year.

The post Climate Home News seeks pitches on renewable energy supply chain appeared first on Climate Home News.