Applications Invited for Text Reports on Renewable Energy in India

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About the Organization

Created in 2004, EJN is now a truly global network of reporters and media outlets in virtually every region of the world.

Environmental and climate change reporting is now more urgent than ever, but journalists face myriad and mounting challenges in covering these topics. The media industry is in crisis, and misinformation is on the rise. Reporters working for cash-strapped news agencies often don't have the resources to research a story properly; freelancers, even less so. That’s where EJN comes in.

Our mission is to strengthen local journalism that serves communities and policymakers on the frontlines of climate and environmental crises, enabling them to shape solutions, hold power to account and demand action.

About the Grant

The Earth Journalism Network (EJN) is offering support to selected communicators across India to produce in-depth reports on various aspects of the country's transition to renewable energy. We welcome pitches on the progress of the transition towards clean energy, the challenges ahead and how to overcome them, and scalable and replicable solutions that empower communities through decentralized renewable energy initiatives.

Overview:

The transition to clean energy and clean mobility is moving quickly in India, but there is still a long way to go for the country to meet its commitment of installing 500 GW renewable energy (RE) generation capacity by 2030. The installed capacity at the end of 2024 was just over 162 GW, with five years left to achieve the target.

To scale up three-fold in the years ahead is no small challenge. Payment delays to RE firms, inadequate grid capacity, lack of clarity on how to repower old wind turbines, shortage of land available for new projects and the uneven rollout of rooftop solar are all obstacles that hinder the sector’s growth.

While it is important for communicators to draw attention to these challenges and point to ways they can be overcome, it’s crucial that the public is fully aware of the urgency and the context of what would happen without the transition to clean energy and to suggest solutions wherever possible.

Selected applicants will be provided support of up to Rs 1 lakh each and 1:1 editorial mentorship on how to produce rigorous and impactful reports.

Themes:

We welcome proposals that seek to robustly evaluate aspects of the transition to RE in India, including issues of generation, finance, transmission, decentralization and community empowerment. We especially welcome proposals that look at replicable and scalable solutions to various challenges in the rollout of RE. We seek to support reports that will drive conversation and make an impact among communities and policymakers at the local, national, and regional level. Issues that have already received a lot of media coverage or don't provide unique angles to environmental or climate challenges are less likely to be selected.

We are not looking for:

• Reports that prescribe or advocate for a particular response
• Reports that profile a particular person or organization and/or highlight solutions that are implemented by an individual rather than a collective
• Reports that report “good news” in an uncritical or overly optimistic way
• Reports that are self-published in blogs or newsletters
• Reports that are produced for civil society organizations or public relations purposes

Eligibility

Communicators based anywhere in India are encouraged to apply.

Groups of communicators are eligible. However, the application must be made in the name of one lead applicant. Lead applicants are responsible for communicating with EJN and receiving funds on the group’s behalf, if awarded.

Please note that this opportunity is for applicants seeking to produce text reports. Supporting images, maps and infographics are welcome and encouraged; for this call, video and radio reports are not eligible.

We welcome applications from early-career and experienced communicators with a track record of environmental issues. Women, Indigenous communicators and communicators from marginalized communities are especially encouraged to apply. We encourage applications from freelance reporters and staff from international, national, local or community-based print or online outlets. Applications can be submitted in English, Hindi, Marathi or Tamil.

How to Apply

Application Deadline: March 3, 2025, 11:59 PM (Asia/Kolkata)

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Tags Environment and Sustainability Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Others