Five Best Climate Investigations
By the CIJ Open Climate Reporting Initiative graduates and Climate Investigations Course Scholars.
These journalists from all over the world used the skills learned at the CIJ OCRI training to tell better and more impactful stories about climate.
Scorched: Inside Nepal’s mounting heatwave crisis
By Bidhya Rai for Nepal News. 27 May 2026
Bidhya Rai is a 2026 Climate Investigations Training Scholar from Nepal.
She has published many climate-related stories following her training with us in early 2026.
In this story she links rising temperatures to human-induced climate change and shows the wide impact this has on health, the workforce, agriculture and the economy in general. It also suggests possible mitigation strategies.
Peruvian Amazon: 215 mining concessions affect rivers and indigenous communities in Madre de Dios
By Elizabeth Salazar Vega for Mongabay. 23 March 2026.
Elizabeth Salazar Vega is a journalist from Peru. She is a 2025 Climate Investigations Training Scholar and attended the CIJ Summer Conference and Climate Investigations Masterclass.
This investigation combined satellite analysis, geospatial mapping, mining cadastre records, environmental regulations, and field reporting to document how mining activity continued in protected areas despite legal restrictions and environmental risks.
The investigation generated further reporting and public discussion about mining governance in Madre de Dios.
A climate policy lost between inaction and uncertainty
By Jorge Rodriguez for Climatetrackerlatam.org. 6 April 2025.
Jorge Rodriguez is a journalist from Guatemala. He was part of the CIJ OCRI story lab workshop held in Bogota, Colombia in October 2024 in collaboration with CONNECTAS.
This story investigates the gap between the legal framework of climate change mitigations and the situation on the ground.
When communities suffer climate-related disasters, government aid is often sparse, unfulfilled, or poorly coordinated, leaving rural families to face the consequences with little to no state protection.
Illegal logging and charcoal production threaten Gambia’s biodiversity and exacerbate climate change
By Mariama Dem for Star TV News. 13 January 2025.
Mariama Dem is a journalist based in the Gambia. She was part of our CIJ OCRI story lab workshop held in Lagos, Nigeria in September 2024 in collaboration with CJID.
Illegal logging and charcoal production threaten Gambia’s biodiversity and exacerbate climate change
Mariama Dem is a journalist based in the Gambia. She was part of our CIJ OCRI story lab workshop held in Lagos, Nigeria in September 2024 in collaboration with CJID.
A CIJ OCRI-supported story that uncovered systemic enforcement failures and local governance complicity. It assessed how unchecked illegal logging and charcoal production are decimating The Gambia’s biodiversity, specifically within the Lower River and West Coast Regions.
This report was one of the contributing factors for Parliament passing a historic Climate Change Bill in April 2026.
This story was nominated for the 2025 Gambia Press Union National Journalism Award.
Despite Argentina’s climate commitments, the Parna Delta continues to burn
By Nadia Luna for La Nacion. 15 April 2025.
Nadia Luna is a journalist from Argentina. She was part of our CIJ OCRI story lab workshop held in Bogota, Colombia in October 2024 in collaboration with CONNECTAS.
This story was also supported by CIJ OCRI and it explores the impact of the fires on the region, the laws that are not being enforced, and what measures are needed to prevent future fires.
Nadia used satellite images searches to explore fire hotspots, followed the money and uncovered where the budget allocated for wildfire prevention was going. She also explored the disinformation and greenwashing strategies used by governments, and advice on how to access public information.
All of these skills Nadia learned at the CIJ OCRI workshop.