Earth Day: RSF publishes a guide for journalists covering the climate crisis

During the May 2024 floods in Brazil, more than 70% of media outlets in the state of Rio Grande do Sul had no emergency plan in place to deal with extreme events. As a result, newsrooms were flooded, equipment was damaged and reporting was dangerous. This is a reality faced by many regions and media outlets around the world, which are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate-related events.

In this context, RSF has published a practical guide to covering the climate crisis. Divided into five sections, it has been designed to enable journalists to continue informing the public without putting their lives at risk.

1 - Defining climate resilience
2 - How to develop a climate resilience plan
3 - Safety recommendations for covering extreme events
4 - Suggested equipment for covering climate crises
5 - Coverage post-disaster

A global campaign for environmental journalism

The guide forms part of a broader RSF strategy aimed at strengthening the protection of environmental journalism and media professionals who, because of their reporting on these issues, are particularly exposed to violence. They are threatened, prevented from doing their work, assaulted and in some cases, killed, often in impunity and without adequate protection.

The NGO is taking action on all fronts:

• international advocacy to integrate the protection of journalists into climate policies;

• national advocacy to strengthen safety mechanisms;

• emergency assistance in the field;

• specialised training;

• reports documenting violations of press freedom.

Protecting local environmental journalism

The guide is particularly based on measures carried out following the devastating 2024 floods in Brazil, during which nearly 150 journalists were provided with emergency kits, training and financial assistance to build their resilience against flooding - one of the most frequent and devastating natural disasters, affecting more than 1.6 billion people between 2000 and 2019. This figure highlights the central role of journalists in delivering reliable information in times of crisis.

Combating climate disinformation

To mark World Environment Day, RSF, UNESCO and several other partner organisations issued an appeal to governments in June 2025, calling on them to recognise information integrity as a pillar in the fight against climate change, protect environmental journalists and support the media outlets covering these issues.

As early as February 2026, the report Ten Priorities for Tackling Climate Disinformation, published by the Forum on Information and Democracy and co-chaired by Brazil and Armenia, set out a roadmap for tackling the manipulation of climate-related information. The report's authors notably call for reform of the digital advertising market, greater protection for environmental journalists and the inclusion of information integrity in climate governance.