africa cop26

COP26 stories from across Africa and the MENA region

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, has been a rollercoaster for civil society organisations as well as states in Africa and the MENA region. The events and stories leading to and during COP26 were filled with immense hope for various climate adaptation and mitigation projects, as well as climate financing projects and an equal amount of uncertainty getting closer to its final days. 

Several stakeholders from the continent have watched the proceedings with dismay and frustration as talks on various climate action topics have either been watered down or overlooked. However, there have been some huge wins as well during the global summit. 

One inescapable conclusion is that needs of these countries should be elevated on the global climate agenda. With this in mind, we want to take a look at the stories published by our online and in-person fellows reporting on COP26 for the Africa and the MENA region.

Climate Journalists

Ronald Musoke, Uganda
Award-winning journalist

Ronald has a special interest in reporting on the environment, agriculture, business, and human rights, among other beats. He has been working at The Independent, Uganda’s premier political and business magazine, since 2012.

Before this, he worked with The Sunrise, a Kampala-based weekly English newspaper (freelance); Green Chronicles, a local environmental magazine (Contributing Editor), and EnviroConserve AFRICA, a regional environmental magazine (Staff Writer).

Climate Journalists

Rahma Diaa, Egypt
Freelance journalist

Rahma is an Egyptian freelance journalist & trainer, and the founder of the “Climate school” initiative. She is particularly interested in covering Climate Crisis & Sustainability. She graduated from the faculty of mass communication, journalism department at Cairo University in 2012, and got a diploma in Media Translation from the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 2018.

She has also won seven local, regional, and international press awards, the most recent is the covering climate now award for 2021.

Paul Adepoju, Nigeria
Freelance journalist

Paul has a passion for reporting development stories that affect the lives and livelihoods of people in Nigeria and across Africa. His pieces have been published by major outlets including Devex, Quartz, Business Insider, Nature, The Lancet, New Scientist, British Medical Journal and several others.

His pieces on climate change have also appeared on top outlets including CNN. He also works with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) as a Community Manager for the Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum, co-winning the 2021 ONA Community Award.

Climate Journalists

Onke Ngcuka, South Africa
Environmental journalist

Onke, reports on the climate crisis and the environment with the Daily Maverick’s Our Burning Planet unit. She not only writes about the crisis but tries to limit her impact by trying to live as earth conscious as possible. 

She is also a climate justice fellow with a Rosa Luxemburg Foundation & JournAfrica! programme.

Climate Journalists

Nathaniel Nartey, Ghana
Journalist

Over 6 years of experience working with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GBC. His role within the corporation primarily as a radio journalist afforded him the opportunity to gain experience also as an online journalist.

In April 2019, he was part of a select group of journalists in Ghana with a special interest in Climate Change and Environmental Reporting to undergo a two-day training, organized by the Environmental Protection Agency in Ghana.

Global Warming Current News

Hadeer El-hadary, Egypt
Award-winning freelance journalist

She wrote for Egyptian and Arab websites such as Scientific American, Vice Arabia, and shorouk news. Her work focuses on the topics of environment, climate change, science, health, and women’s rights.

She won an award from the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate for an environmental story about converting date palm seeds into fuel and other products, and another award from Plan International organization and the Ministry of Social Solidarity for a story about discrimination against women in job interviews.

Opportunities Journalism Lebanon

Ethan Van Diemen, South Africa
Journalist

Ethan is a South African journalist on the apocalypse beat for the Daily Maverick. He is a Rhodes and University of the Witwatersrand alumnus. He was also an Open Society Foundation for South Africa Investigative Journalism Fellow in 2020. 

Global Warming Current News

Eman Mounir, Egypt
Journalist

Eman is an investigative journalist from Egypt. She has been working independently since 2019. Eman is keenly interested in scientific and environmental issues, as well as stories related to feminism issues. Eman received an award in New Media from the University of Bournemouth in the UK, and other award in scientific journalism from the German Goethe Institute.

She’s currently nominated for the True Story Prize in Switzerland, and previously nominated for Thomson Foundation’s Young Journalist Award. Eman studied Data Journalism with a 6-month diploma by ICFJ and ARIJ Network for Investigative Journalism. Currently, she is a fellow to ONE WORLD MEDIA foundation in Uk.

Climate Change Current News

Daouda Kinda, Burkina Faso
Journalist

Daouda KINDA is a young Burkinabè journalist born in Ouahigouya in northern Burkina Faso. He has been a journalist for six years in Burkina Faso. Previously he wrote on several topics related to politics, economy, and society, but for 3 years he has been more focused on environmental and agricultural news.

Currently, he works for Le Quotidien, a Burkinabè general information media, where he holds the position of Head of the environment desk. In addition, since 2019, he has been writing for Le Monde Rural, an online media accessible on lemonderural.com, specializing in the processing of agricultural and environmental information. 

Global Warming News 2020

Caroline Ayugi, Uganda
Journalist

Caroline is a Ugandan journalist with more than ten years of experience. She has worked for IWPR, The New Vision, URN, Favor FM, Mighty Fire FM, Daily Monitor, and The Cooperator News. Her story, Education system, limited digital tools slow learners with visual impairment in Uganda, is in line for an award this October by Media Monitoring Africa (an Isu Elihle project) that rewards great story ideas on children

Global Warming Current News

Jairus Awo, Nigeria
Journalist

Jairus is a journalist covering conflicts and crisis mainly in Nigeria. Jairus believes that climate journalism is a pressing need and reporting about how the climate terrain has really changed and how that change is affecting the livelihood of citizens and the world at large is critical to demanding accountability from our officials and policymakers towards achieving a greener world. 

Latest Climate Change Report

Joshua Borokinni, Nigeria
Journalist

Borokinni Joshua is a Nigerian climate journalist, development campaigner, and clinical psychologist who believes in sustainable development that is founded on inclusivity, equality and justice for all, including the planet. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Clinical Psychology at the University of Plymouth, UK and doubles as the head of research with LearnBlue, a Gen Z-led and focused non-profit, where he coordinates evidence-based policy and programs design. Over the past four years, Joshua has consistently leveraged media to drive action-oriented campaigns, this includes but not limited to – #SafeClimate4Africa, #ForACleanerLagos, and #NaijaGoesVegan.

Climate Tracker Training

Israel Campos, Angola
Journalist

Israel is an Angolan journalist and journalism student at City University of London. He started his career as a journalist in 2016 at Rádio Nacional de Angola, where he produced reports on society, health, and human rights. In 2020 he started investigating corruption and human rights stories in Angola and is currently a correspondent for the Portuguese service of Voice of America (VOA).

We hope that these stories from our fellows give you a clear understanding of what the expectations from COP26 were and how far they were met by the global summit.

Joyce Chachu-Hilton
A creative storyteller and digital strategy enthusiast based in Ghana. With over 5 years’ experience in marketing, she comes with a wealth of knowledge in the various facets of online and offline marketing.