The Internews’ Earth Journalism Network UN Ocean Conference 2025 Fellowships In France Description:
Title: The Internews’ Earth Journalism Network UN Ocean Conference 2025 Fellowships In France | Fully Funded
Application deadline: 15 January, 2025
Overview
In the last decade, many promising steps have been taken to protect ‘the lungs of the planet’—our ocean—which produces most of the oxygen we need to breathe and is the world’s largest carbon sink. We have seen individual countries take action. Earlier this year, Greece was the first country in Europe to announce a ban on bottom trawling in all of its national marine parks and marine protected areas , and so far 15 countries have ratified the UN’s High Seas Treaty, which aims to protect marine biodiversity in the two-thirds of ocean waters that do not fall under national jurisdiction.
Countries made important strides at the last UN Ocean Conference held in Portugal in 2022: outlining new guidelines on blue markets and over 50 high-level commitments and pledges covering scientific cooperation, monitoring and surveillance of ecosystems and regulation of IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing.
The next UN Ocean Conference , scheduled to be held in Nice, France, from June 9-13, 2025, will be a vital inflection point to accelerate progress on the conservation and sustainable management of the ocean.
These summits are focused on supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14), which is to “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Although nearly 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their primary source of protein, and millions worldwide depend on coastal and marine ecosystems for their livelihoods, many of the decisions and action plans made to protect the ocean are decided between government officials , at such high-level conferences which are not accessible to the public.
It is only through trusted, transparent and accessible journalism that such important coverage can set sail and reach vulnerable communities in every continent.
The road to a sustainable future for our blue planet remains fraught, ; and the public needs to be better informed about how their countries are—or aren’t—addressing overfishing, acidification and potentially, deep-sea mining, among several other threats to the ocean, which is home to 260,000 known species.
As part of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network’s UN Ocean Project, we are pleased to announce a new fellowship program for journalists interested in attending and reporting from the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025, with support from the Bloomberg Ocean Fund. This edition of the conference will be focused on mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.
Fellowship logistics
Fellows will travel to Nice, France to attend the entire duration of the UN Ocean Conference negotiations, which will take place from June 9-13, with arrival planned for 7 June, and departure on 14 June.
EJN will cover non-refundable economy-class airfare, accommodation, meals, travel medical insurance and ground transportation costs related to fellowship participation. Organizers will also facilitate the press accreditation process and provide logistical support relating to the trip. Please note that the process of obtaining any necessary visas is the fellow’s individual responsibility, though EJN will reimburse visa costs. Fellows will also receive a per diem to cover daily expenses during their time in Nice.
5-8 journalists will be selected for the in-person fellowship. Prior to the start of UNOC, fellows will receive informational resources and technical support to help prepare for reporting at the conference. They will attend pre-COP virtual workshop to meet their cohort and media trainer, discuss reporting opportunities, and ask any questions to support pre-reporting and preparatory work.
While in Nice, fellows will participate in a series of specially designed activities, including an orientation session with ocean experts on the key issues at this UNOC, daily briefings led by EJN’s media trainers and interviews with high-level officials. The fellowship will offer valuable insights into the climate and environmental stakes of threats to the ocean and the measures required to protect the marine ecosystem. Fellows will also engage with their cohort and exchange ideas for effective reporting and receive editorial feedback and guidance on their stories from EJN’s media trainer.
Journalists awarded fellowships are responsible for their own safety during travel, and for ensuring that they meet all requirements for travel and attendance.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the fellowship, the applicant must:
- Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from any country with a coast. Applicants from countries in the Mediterranean region and low- and middle-income countries are especially encouraged to apply.
- Have previous experience reporting on ocean issues (examples include threats to the ocean such as, IIU fishing, the impacts of algal bloom, acidification and pollution as well as innovative and actionable solutions to protect the ocean, such as technological advances to monitor ocean crimes, new multilateral agreements such as the Plastics treaty and High Seas treaty, funding mechanisms such as blue bonds, and policy measures such as Marine Protected Areas, fishing quotas, etc.
- Clearly indicate the kinds of stories they will seek to pursue while covering the conference.
- Be available for the conference in Nice from 9 until 13 June 2025, arriving on 7 June and departing on 14 June.
- Have a good command of the English language.
- Share an up-to-date resume/CV.
- Provide a letter of support from an editor, producer, or supervisor who can confirm that your news reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet. Freelancers are welcome to apply but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report.
- Provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples which focus on ocean issues (preferably covering ocean governance/policies related to marine protection). These can be uploaded as documents or web links. Stories can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis. Stories must have clear bylines and should have been published in the last 12 months.
For the purposes of this opportunity, we will only be accepting applications in English. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to consider applications in other languages at this time. Applicants must be able to participate fully in an English-language fellowship to be awarded.
Applications are open to journalists working in any medium (online, print, television, radio). We encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations—international, national, local, and community-based.
Journalists who attended the previous UNOC in 2022 with EJN’s support or any other EJN-supported fellowships in 2024 are not eligible for this opportunity.
EJN reserves the right to disqualify applicants from consideration if they have been found to have engaged in unethical or improper professional conduct, including, but not limited to, plagiarism and submitting AI-generated content as their own.
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