World Environment Day: ten obstacles silencing environmental reporting

As the effects of climate change multiply, environmental damage draws growing public interest and disinformation intensifies, the role of journalists covering these issues has never been more crucial. Yet around the world, investigating these subjects encounter the same obstacles: restricted access to areas they need to report on, silenced sources, abusive legal proceedings, physical violence and harassment campaigns. Here are ten major obstructions to environmental journalism, illustrated by recent examples.

Ten obstacles silencing environmental reporting:

1. Off-limit zones

Before they can even take out their notebook or camera, journalists who specialise in environmental reporting often face a major hurdle: physical access. Locked-down sites, zones under surveillance and remote locations are frequently off-limits to the news workers seeking to cover what's happening on the ground. In western Ghana, for example, Channel One TV and Citi FM correspondent Akwasi Agyei Annim, Henry Fynn Emil from Angel TV and Jacob Adu-Baah from ABC News were threatened, assaulted and prevented from filming miners' illegal exploitation of farmland in February 2025.

This reality is all the more worrying because nearly two-thirds of the world's natural resources are extracted in countries where press freedom is seriously restricted. In some states, such as Saudi Arabia and China, extraction zones are practically closed to journalists because of restrictions imposed on the press. Elsewhere, armed conflicts make reporting on the ground impossible. This is notably true in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and several Sahel countries, which are rich in natural resources but devastated by insecurity, making environmental journalism extremely difficult, if not impossible.

2. Restricted information

Access to information is another battleground for environmental journalists. Upon returning to the White House, Donald Trump launched a sweeping rollback of public environmental information in the United States. In late January 2025, thousands of webpages hosted by federal agencies - including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - were removed. Removing data that serves the public interest undermines the right to information for journalists and citizens alike.

Online platforms can also become censorship tools. In India, a video investigation published by Ecosystem Relation Communities - a network of journalists and newsrooms that collaborate on environmental crimes - on the forced displacement of communities linked to the construction of a data centre was blocked on Instagram under the Information Technology Act. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this unacceptable censorship and calls on Meta to immediately restore access to the video.

3. Threatened sources

Environmental journalism relies heavily on sources who, when they agree to speak out, expose themselves to significant risks of retaliation. Several Cambodian activists featured in a report by the French television channel France 24 - which Cambodia's Ministry of Environment claimed was "fake news" - were arrested and later released on condition that they cease all contact with foreign journalists. British environmental journalist Gerald Flynn, who also appeared in the documentary, has meanwhile been placed on a blacklist since November 2024, effectively barring him from returning to Cambodia.

4. Cyber harassment

Online platforms have become powerful tools for intimidating journalists. In June 2025, freelance Ukrainian journalist Olena Mudra was targeted by an online smear campaign after publishing a series of investigations into a controversial wind farm project in the Carpathian Mountains of Transcarpathia, western Ukraine. Doctored images depicting her in a Russian military uniform circulated online, accompanied by accusations that she was conducting misleading investigations on Moscow's behalf.

5. Newsrooms under attack

Media outlets themselves are not spared. On 5 January 2026, around 50 oyster farmers set fire to the gate of the French daily Midi Libre in Saint-Jean-de-Védas, southern France, after the newspaper reported on a ban on the sale of oysters from the Thau lagoon. In response to the attack, editor-in-chief Olivier Marino stressed that reporting on public sanitation measures is "a matter of public information and public health."

6. Legal harassment

To silence journalists, some of the individuals targeted by their investigations weaponise the judicial system. Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) - abusive legal proceedings intended to intimidate media professionals, drain their financial resources and ultimately deter scrutiny of issues of public interest - are increasingly being used against journalists covering environmental issues. In France, a leading figure in the powerful Breton pork industry lobby sued the investigative outlet Splann! following an investigation published in May 2024. The case was ultimately dismissed a year later by the Rennes Court of Appeal's investigating chamber, highlighting the intimidatory nature of such proceedings.

7. Physical violence at protests

Being a journalist - and clearly identified as one - is no longer enough to ensure protection. Arrests during protests are becoming increasingly common, including while covering environmental issues. In late March 2025, journalist Sumit Jha was arrested by police while reporting on demonstrations against the clearing of wooded land on the University of Hyderabad campus in Telangana.

8. Detention

In many countries, reporting on environmental issues can lead directly to prison. In Myanmar, documentary filmmaker and journalist Shin Daewe, known for her work on environmental issues and the consequences of the civil war, was arrested in October 2023 while working on a documentary. Falsely accused of "abetting terrorism" by the military junta, she was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2024, a sentence later reduced to fifteen years. According to her relatives, she was subjected to repeated interrogations and torture while in detention. After 915 days behind bars, she was finally released in April 2026 as part of an amnesty.

9. Death threats and murder

June 5th marks the fourth anniversary of the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous affairs expert Bruno Pereira in the Brazilian Amazon. The nine individuals charged by the federal police in connection with the crime, committed in the Javari Valley, are still awaiting trial. In Türkiye, environmental journalist and documentary filmmaker Hakan Tosun died in Istanbul on 13 October 2025, three days after being the victim of an extremely violent assault. Known for his documentaries on environmental issues, urban planning policies and social movements, he had spent several years investigating land-use conflicts. In Mozambique, Carlitos Cadangue, a journalist with the private television channel STV, survived an assassination attempt on 4 February 2026. For several months, he had been documenting illegal mining activities and had exposed the alleged involvement of multiple actors in these trafficking networks.

10. Exposure to environmental risks

Covering environmental issues also means being directly exposed to the consequences of climate change. Cyclones, floods, wildfires and droughts put journalists in danger and weaken local newsrooms, which are often on the front lines of informing affected communities. In Mayotte, Cyclone Chido, which struck the archipelago in December 2024, devastated local media outlets along with the rest of the territory, severely disrupting coverage of the disaster for months. In Brazil, the floods that ravaged Rio Grande do Sul in the spring of 2024 also hit regional media hard: newsrooms were inundated, equipment was damaged, and reporting conditions were hazardous. According to RSF information, more than 70% of media outlets in the state had no emergency plan in place. To help journalists better prepare for and respond to these risks, RSF has published a practical guide for journalists covering the climate crisis. The guide is structured around five key areas, ranging from climate resilience to field safety and equipment recommendations.