Applications Open for Biodiversity Fellowships for Journalists to Cover the UN Biodiversity Conference (UNCBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia

EJN is pleased to announce an in-person fellowship program that will support selected journalists to attend and report from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP17 conference scheduled for October 19-30, 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia.

Overview

In 2022, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 launched a landmark international agreement to halt and reverse nature loss over the following decade. The Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework outlines 23 targets across topics such as sustainable use of biodiversity, species extinction, ecosystem health, benefit sharing and finance, all to be achieved by 2030. The framework also underpins the “30x30” objective to protect 30% of global land and seas by the same deadline.

Due to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, in October 2026, the CBD COP17 will be the first biodiversity COP meeting past the halfway mark to 2030’s CBD COP19. It will mark the first global stocktake of progress toward the framework, and will assess if the world is on track to meet its targets.

Time is running out to deliver meaningful biodiversity action. Today over 48,000 species are threatened with extinction, climate change is altering the environment faster than ecosystems can adapt and biodiversity loss continues to feature as one of the most severe long-term risks facing our planet today, according to the World Economic Forum.

To ensure that the CBD COP receives rich and diverse coverage worldwide—particularly in countries most impacted by its outcomes—Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN), in partnership with NABU through the SYMBIOTIC Project and the Biodiversity Media Initiative, is launching a fellowship program for journalists interested in attending and reporting on the event. This opportunity is designed to enable journalists from low- and middle-income countries to cover the negotiations, and ensure crucial findings, decisions and outcomes are available and accessible to audiences beyond conference walls.

The fellowship will strengthen and deepen journalists’ reporting on biodiversity issues and draw attention to the widespread, catastrophic and often underreported impacts of biodiversity depletion. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the fellowship, the applicant must: 

• Be a professional journalist from or representing an established media house and reporting from a low- or middle-income country as classified by the World Ban

• Have previous experience reporting on biodiversity issues and clearly indicate the kinds of stories you might pursue while covering the conference
• Be available and willing to travel to Yerevan to attend COP17 in person, arriving on October 17 and departing no earlier than October 31, 2026.
• Have a good command of the English language
• Share an up-to-date resume/CV
• Provide a letter of support from an editor, producer, or supervisor who can confirm that your news reports will be published or broadcast in an established media outlet. Freelancers are welcome to apply but must provide a letter of support from a media outlet for which they intend to report.
• Provide recent, relevant and journalistic work samples on biodiversity topics, which can be uploaded as documents or web links. Stories can be in any language as long as they are accompanied by a short English synopsis. Clips must focus on biodiversity topics and should have been published in the last 12 months.

Note: You'll be asked to upload these supporting documents once you start the application process, so please have them handy. 

Story logistics

Biodiversity COP17 Fellows are expected to produce multiple stories for their media house over the course of the fellowship. Journalists may produce stories in any medium, including print, online, radio, broadcast and more. 

For more information, please check the Link: Earth Journalism Network