EJN said 600 applications were received from climate journalists around the world for the CCMP 2023.
A PREMIUM TIMES' journalist, Chiamaka Okafor, and 27 other journalists from different countries have been selected to cover the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Ms Okafor is a senior international correspondent at PREMIUM TIMES, covering global issues including climate change in Nigeria.
The fellowship programme is part of the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) led by Internews' Earth Journalism Network (EJN) and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
According to the list of fellows as published on EJN's official website Wednesday, Ms Okafor is the only Nigerian who will attend and report on COP28 in person in Dubai alongside 19 others, while eight fellows will cover the conference remotely from their home countries.
Other fellows are from India, Iraq, Philippines, Cambodia, Colombia, Morocco, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Jamaica, Thailand, Brazil, and Argentina, among others.
EJN noted that the fellows will receive support and guidance from seasoned climate journalists for the conference scheduled to run from 30 November to 12 December 2023.
EJN stated that 600 applications were received from climate journalists around the world for the CCMP 2023, adding that the selected fellows went through two rounds of reviews and interviews by a panel of international judges.
COP28 coverage
According to EJN, COP28 will facilitate the first-ever global stocktake since the Paris Agreement, assessing the progress by countries to date on climate mitigation, adaptation, and equitable implementation.
Ms Okafor in her remarks said it is a rare privilege to be part of the fellowship, "and it's even more exciting to be reporting on Nigeria's negotiations, on Africa and women."
"I am looking forward to working with all faculty members, especially four other Africans on the fellowship," she said.
"We have a huge task ahead of us to make sure the world is informed about Africa's engagement at this COP especially following the Nairobi Declaration.
"We must help the populace hold our leaders accountable by furnishing them with details of their engagements in Dubai."
Nairobi declaration
African political and business leaders recently adopted the Nairobi Declaration to raise 23 billion dollars for green growth, mitigation and adaptation to address climate challenges in Africa.
The declaration was announced by Kenya's president, William Ruto at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) held in Nairobi to advance conversation and solutions on the devastating impacts of Climate Change ravaging different regions of the African continent and the world.
James Fahn, EJN's executive director, said the global stocktaking process at COP28 will be an important summit to spotlight climate change in the Middle East region and how nations are responding to "climate emergency".
About CCMP
The CCMP was formed in 2007 by EJN in collaboration with Panos London and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to support journalists from low and middle-income countries (LMICs) to attend the annual UN climate summits.
Since launching in 2007, EJN says the CCMP has supported more than 400 journalists to report on location from the summit.
"Without support such as this, people in low-and middle-income countries--which bear the brunt of climate change despite contributing relatively little to global emissions--might have had to rely solely on global wire services for news about UN climate negotiations," it noted.
For COP28, EJN said the 20 fellows reporting in Dubai will participate in orientation activities, daily briefings, interviews with high-level officials, and other interactions to facilitate quality reporting on developments and outcomes at COP28.
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It added that the four fellows from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and four from Lower Mekong countries will cover COP28 remotely, with opportunities for mentorship, networking, and virtual interviews with officials and others at the conference.
About COP
COP is an annual UN Climate Change Conference that takes place in a different host city each year.
The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the COP assesses progress in combating climate change.
According to the UNFCCC, ever since the first COP in Berlin in 1995, COPs have been used to review what Parties (the countries who signed up) have achieved, and measure progress.
It is also a vital means of monitoring the progress made so far and working out the targets that need to be achieved in the future "if we are to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement."
