Map of PFAs (man-made chemicals that do not break down) in Europe. Photo by Thomas Steffen. Earth Investigations Programme.
Earth Investigations Programme
The Earth Investigations Programme, hosted by Journalismfund Europe, awards grants to support environmental investigative journalism on European affairs inside and outside Europe.
Environmental investigative journalism exposes injustices, creates pressure on those in power and mobilizes action to protect the climate, nature and people. Environmental crime is frequently transnational, but news organizations often operate nationally. The programme fosters cross-border investigative cooperation, providing several types of grants and enabling activities to support journalists, newsrooms and journalistic organisations.
Since it started in 2022 it has awarded 392 grants.
The programme has multiple funding streams. Details and deadline can be found on Journalismfund’s website.
Project examples
The ‘forever chemicals’ poisoning Europe
The Earth Investigations Programme funded a joint investigation by 18 European newsrooms to reveal the extent of ‘forever chemicals’ pollution across Europe. The investigation discovered over 17,000 sites known to be contaminated by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances which do not degrade, and a further 22,000 sites that are likely to be affected. Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung and The Guardian were among the media outlets that published the results.
Perenco extracting oil and gas in protected areas
An international investigation coordinated by the Environmental Investigative Forum in partnership with Mediapart, InfoCongo, InfoAmazonia and Convoca revealed the worldwide ecological impact of the Franco-British oil company Perenco. The team used data analysis and geolocation to identify sites owned by the company in protected areas in at least nine countries, including Cameroon, Gabon and Peru. They also showed that oil extraction by Perenco has led to more than a hundred cases of pollution impacting protected ecosystems.