Climate Action Day: IPI calls for stronger protections for Africa’s climate reporters and access to environmental information – ipi.media

As the world marks the International Day of Climate Action, the International Press Institute (IPI) reiterates its demand for stronger protections for journalists reporting on climate issues and for meaningful access to climate and environmental information. IPI also calls on African states to counter abusive litigation and guarantee access to climate and environmental information as part of practical steps to promote climate action and resilience as part of their climate commitments, including the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Widespread displacement, growing food insecurity, health complications, and avoidable loss of life are some of the devastating effects of climate change on individuals and communities across the world. Independent climate and environmental reporting plays a critical role in helping the public understand these impacts, exposing their underlying drivers, and informing meaningful, context-relevant responses.

Initiatives such as ClimaTracker, a flagship geo-mapping and data journalism tool developed by the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism, demonstrate the value of this work. By tracking weather changes, modelling scientific data, and documenting the effects of climate change on local communities and food security in Southern Africa, ClimaTracker makes complex climate information accessible and highlights the connections between environmental changes, food systems, and economic livelihoods. Such initiatives show the importance of both independent climate reporting and meaningful access to reliable climate and environmental information.

Yet, across the world, climate reporters work in difficult operating environments to investigate compelling environmental stories, raise climate awareness, make scientific data accessible, and document the lived realities of affected communities. IPI’s Africa climate and environmental journalism programme has documented attacks and violations affecting at least 58 climate and environmental journalists between March 2025 and March 2026.

On March 4, 2026, authorities arrested and detained Somali journalist Mohamed Saleban Ahmed, also known as Suute, for two days following the publication of a report that discussed drought conditions in the Sool and Sanaag regions. Also in March 2026, authorities arrested and detained two Tanzanian broadcasters, Nobert Hongoli and Wolter John Mbaga,over their reporting on floods, accusing them of publishing news that caused public alarm. Their report described rising water levels in a local dam, residents’ fears of flooding, and calls for government intervention.

IPI has also documented the growing use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and other forms of judicial harassment in Africa against climate and environmental journalists. Despite some countries in Africa having access to information laws, journalists still struggle to obtain climate and environmental information, as noted in IPI’s recent report. In June 2026, a journalist reported that the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) charged him exorbitant fees after filing an information request under Ghana’s Right to Information Act.

At COP30 in November 2025, countries adopted the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change, recognising the importance of reliable, evidence-based information in enabling public participation, accountability, and effective climate action. The declaration commits signatories to support a diverse and resilient media ecosystem, safeguard environmental journalists, and promote transparency and access to public climate and environmental data. It also calls on governments to establish human rights-based legal frameworks that protect freedom of expression and access to information.

Yet, of the 29 signatories, only two are African countries, Mauritius and Seychelles. That underscores the need for broader regional support for commitments that recognise the essential role of independent journalism and access to reliable information in responding to the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is also making strides in strengthening protections for environmental defenders, including journalists.

A resolution adopted in October 2026 condemns all forms of reprisals, attacks, criminalisation, and judicial harassment against environmental human rights defenders and calls on states to adopt effective prevention and protection measures and ensure prompt, independent, and effective investigation of attacks, accountability, and access to effective remedies. An earlier resolution on access to environmental information adopted in March 2026 calls on states to promote access to information for journalists through the appropriate legislative, administrative, judicial, and other measures.