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Past Event
Seminar

The Challenges Ahead in Covering Environmental and Climate Justice

RSVP Required Open to the Public

Is environmental justice finally getting more coverage, as media outlets address the disproportionate impact of serious environmental problems on communities of color, the poor and the marginalized?

Three leading journalists will discuss the challenges ahead in covering environmental and climate justice in the United States and around the globe: Somini Sengupta of The New York Times; Justin Worland of Time Magazine;  and Yessenia Funes of Atmos Magazine. Cristine Russell, ENRP Senior Fellow, will moderate.

While air, water, and toxic pollution hit vulnerable populations hardest, climate change will make the inequities even worse. The Biden Administration has promised to make environmental justice a key element of its sweeping federal climate agenda.

Environmental and climate justice reporting ranges from the polluted water of Flint, Michigan to the dirty air of New Delhi, bringing in-depth stories of the people most adversely impacted by where they live and work. Climate change, from extreme heat to increased flooding, will affect communities—and countries—least prepared to deal with the consequences.  The Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-19 pandemic have also been linked with concerns about environmental justice in terms of those populations at greatest health risk.

HKS Co-Sponsors: Belfer Center Environment & Natural Resources Program & Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy; Climate, Energy & Environment PIC (CEE-PIC): A student organization at HKS

Date: Time: - Location: Online
Abhyuday Majhi/Unsplash

Recording

Speakers

Yessenia Funes

Yessenia Funes is a journalist covering the intersection of race, climate, and environment. She's currently the climate editor of Atmos, a climate and culture magazine. She was previously the senior staff writer at Earther, the environmental news vertical from Gizmodo. Her reporting centers on community-oriented solutions for climate justice and aims to reframe how we define the "environment" in a broader context. Twitter: @yessfun

Somini Sengupta

Somini Sengupta is the international climate correspondent for The New York Times. A former correspondent in South Asia, the Middle East and West Africa, she has reported from a Himalayan glacier, a Congo River ferry, the streets of Baghdad and Mumbai and many places in between. She is the recipient of a George Polk Award for foreign correspondence and the author of the book, The End of Karma: Hope and Fury among India's Young. Twitter: @SominiSengupta

Justin Worland

Justin Worland is a Washington D.C.-based senior correspondent for TIME, covering climate change and the intersection of policy, politics and society. He is the 2019 winner of the SEAL Environmental Journalism Award. Worland came to TIME as a New York-based reporter in 2014 and has covered climate, environment, energy and other topics. He became a senior correspondent in September 2020. Twitter: @JustinWorland