Context

Across the Middle East and North Africa, the climate crisis is unfolding alongside conflict, economic fragility, and social upheaval. Water scarcity, energy insecurity, and environmental degradation are no longer distant threats—they shape daily realities and policy choices. Yet independent, in-depth reporting on these issues remains scarce.
On September 9 and 10 2025, in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), we organized a two-day intensive training to help bridge this gap and nurture a new generation of environmental journalists who can hold governments accountable, elevate local voices, and connect regional struggles to global debates.

Objectives

• The training equips early-career journalists to:
• Investigate environmental justice narratives: linking ecological change with politics, economics, and social equity.
• Report on climate diplomacy:translating complex COP negotiations and international agreements for local audiences.
• Cover environmental impacts of conflict: documenting displacement, resource loss, and ecological damage in war zones.
• Use cutting-edge investigative tools and AI: to expose mismanagement, greenwashing, and corruption.

Participants

Selected through a competitive regional call, participants represented a remarkable cross-section of the MENA media landscape:

• Journalists from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Iraq.
• A balanced mix of genders and backgrounds, including reporters from mainstream outlets, independent digital platforms, and grassroots community media.
• Experience ranging from emerging reporters to early-career investigative journalists, ensuring rich peer learning and lasting professional networks.

Expert Trainers

An exceptional faculty guided the sessions, blending decades of field reporting with academic and activist perspectives:

• Suzanne Baaklini – veteran environment and energy journalist, L'Orient-Le Jour.

• Farah Attyat – senior journalist at Al Ghad, former Climate Action Network campaign officer.

• Rula Asad – Syrian feminist journalist, co-founder of the Syrian Female Journalists Network.

• Najah Musallam – award-winning broadcaster and documentary filmmaker.

• Mustafa Haid – human rights advocate and founding board member of the Dawlaty Foundation.

• Habib Maalouf – journalist, writer, and professor, pioneer of environmental philosophy and climate justice in the Arab region.

Partners and Donors

This training is part of the Just Transition Green Bridge Project - co-funded by the European Union’s Civil Society Facility for the Mediterranean and Sweden through its regional development cooperation for the MENA region.

Their support made it possible to offer the program free of charge to all participants, including travel and accommodation.