BUCHAREST / PAZARDZHIK —  The green transition is not always a clean one. The European frenzy for green energy projects, and the massive funds assigned for this process generated a chaotic battle for agricultural lands in Romania and Bulgaria, countries particularly vulnerable to corruption risks.  

GITEGA / ROME - Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to grow coffee plants. What is the future holding for the lovers of this drink? How will plant cultivation change, what is the deal with waste management, and can coffee supply chain become sustainable? This investigation takes you to Burundi to find the answers.

EU / AFRICA / MENA – Five European oil and gas majors rank among the top 10 largest polluters in Africa and the Middle East when it comes to gas flaring, reveals this investigative series. These companies include Shell, BP, ENI, TotalEnergies and Perenco, as revealed by the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and the media network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), Daraj Media, SourceMaterial and Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism.

DAGESTAN / ASTRAKHAN / ATYRAU — Amid the Ukraine conflict, the Caspian Sea has gained importance for energy and trade. As Baku will host COP29 in late 2024, the world's largest inland body of water faces a severe crisis. The water levels have dropped, and the coastlines have been shifting. 

MILAN/ROTTERDAM - True participation? Investigating the value and flaws of Citizen’s Assemblies as a solution for climate policies. 

NAIVASHA - Many of the beautiful bouquets sold across European markets have a devastating environmental and human cost. In Kenya, a supplier of 40% of the European cut flower market, the floriculture industry faces accusations of having a calamitous effect on water sources, of chemical use leading to disease, and of widespread abuses of farm workers, 70% of whom are women. 

MADRID - Heat is killing thousands of people in Southern European cities: what is being done in Barcelona, Milan and Lisbon about it?

TIRANA / DURRES / BELGRADE / PRISTINA - Across the Balkans, particularly in Albania, a disturbing trend is emerging among organised crime figures and influencers: the ownership of exotic pets like lion and tiger cubs.

BUCHAREST - EU residents are buying 40% more clothing than a few decades ago, with less than half being collected for reuse and only 1% recycled.

BRATISLAVA/PRAGUE - This investigation reveals how Ukranian women searching for accomodation are open to exploitation in online spaces.

LONDON – This is a cross-border investigation by five journalists into how the world’s most popular sport is creating a huge carbon footprint and relying on the fossil fuel industry in a never-ending search for more money and more fans.

A RAIA / LA RAYA – Spain and Portugal share their main rivers, a fact that has promoted diplomatic efforts for the joint management of common bodies of water. For the past 25 years, that relationship has been regulated by the Albufeira Convention. But as extreme droughts become more frequent and intense in the Iberian Peninsula, local populations and legislators alike are struggling to cope with the effects of water scarcity.

ATHENS/FARO/AGRIGENTO – Wildfires in Europe have become more frequent and devastating. From lagging prevention and disaster response in Greece, to the mismanagement and legal loopholes that in Italy fuel arson, to the post-wildfire economy in Spain that impedes ecological restoration, to Portugal's paper industry that hinder fire management for its own financial gain, this investigation sheds light on the reasons behind these disasters. 

MATINA - For over two decades, residents near banana plantations in Costa Rica have been exposed to pesticide sprays from planes, affecting their health and environment. Despite being banned in Europe, these chemicals are still exported to Global South for use in agriculture, where they are often used by major companies like Dole Food Company and Chiquita International.

PRAGUE - Against all odds, local communities and researchers across Europe are acting to find solutions to PFAS contamination in their food and water.

BAKU/ RAVENNA/ L’AQUILA – Under the pretext of reducing reliance on Russian gas, Italy and the European Union have planned to double gas imports from Azerbaijan since 2022, even as dictator Ilham Aliyev tightens his authoritarian grip and increases investments in fossil fuels.

EDINBURGH - Europe’s marine environment faces a plethora of severe threats. What are the key species in decline, and which interest groups are lobbying against marine protection laws? This investigation looks into Europe’s interconnected marine systems, and how they can be preserved.

LARISSA / JAÉN / VASLUI - Farmers are already under immense pressure due to economic strains compounded by stringent EU regulations. Now, the intensifying impacts of climate change are exacerbating these challenges, leading to insomnia, anxiety, and depression among farmers.

LONDON – With Europe reeling from heat waves and wildfires, the EU is backing projects to capture industrial emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a key pillar in its fight against climate change. But what if these multi-billion-euro schemes make the problem worse?

DELHI / BERLIN - India’s garment industry, valued at around 100 billion USD, employs 51 million people formally and another 68 million informally. As a key producer for Western nations and the second-largest textile exporter globally, the industry relies heavily on women, who make up over 70% of the workforce. However, women in this sector face significant harassment and exploitation in the workplace.

ODEMIRA / MESSINIA - Faced with poor water management, locals in Portugal, Greece and Romania struggle to keep their farmlands and financially survive, and often resort to extreme solutions to find usable water.

MONTEVIDEO - The world is made of paper and bought with paper:  How far can a company modify the present of a nation and influence its future with promises that never come?

KATOWICE / KARVINÁ – This cross-border investigative project compares the energy transition in Silesia and Karviná, the coal regions on the Czech and Polish border, with an emphasis on the implementation of the EU Just Transition Fund.

BONN/BUKAREST/BERN/AMSTERDAM/ATHENS – The future of our food supply is under threat as a high-stakes battle unfolds over seed control in the EU. This cross-border project investigated how companies exploit patent loopholes to demand and sometimes obtain patents from the EPO even on conventionally-bred plants, which are technically protected from patenting by both the EU and EPO laws.

TALLINN - The lack of regulation of the voluntary carbon market, together with the influx of capital, creates conditions for marketing of ineffective solutions, or even outright scams. This cross-border investigation looks at the exploitation of 'green' opportunities for personal gain — in Estonia, Lithuania and Italy. 

NAIROBI - For decades Kenya has been a purveyor of Olympic medals in distance running, and it will continue to be so at the Paris Games, but for the past decade or so it has also been clear that there is a strong smell of doping attached to the medals. Athletics is one of the most important economic sectors in Kenya and where there is money, there is cheating.

PARIS - An in-depth investigation of the We Report network looked in the cockpit of the privatised airplane industry. Behind the scenes, the polluting footprint of a few rich is infinite.

COVILHÃ /LES LANDES / HARZ - Forests are essential in the global fight against climate change, through their role as carbon sinks. But what happens when management choices are not made in the forest’s best interest?

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS/SOFIA - Adoption is often linked to poor countries in the global South. Yet Flanders and the Netherlands adopt children from other European countries, such as Bulgaria and Hungary. This cross-border research shows that Roma children in these countries face discrimination and fall into the adoption system due to stigma, poverty and lack of support for families. 

PARIS / BRUSSELS / MADRID – Groundwater is the ecosystem Europe has always been able to rely on, and grew to consider an infinite resource. This cross-border investigation reveals that the current state of matters is dire: our water is disappearing and what remains is facing near-irreversible pollution.

LADNUN / PADUA — This investigation documents that at least 100 Indians paid up to €20,000 to reach northern Italy, living in overcrowded old houses, and being exploited as warehouse workers by cooperatives serving large retailers.

KALIMANTAN – This investigation reveals how EU-banned pesticides are dumped in Indonesia, disrupting Borneo ecosystem, and communities’ livelihood.

KATOWICE – This investigation looks at challenges and solutions of methane emissions reduction in Europe. Is it feasible, for example, to replace coking coal, a critical yet hard-to-replace resource for the steel industry? 

LVIV / PODLASIE / BREST – investigation highlights the threats to the Western bug river from the perspective of three neighbouring countries through which it flows. Journalists uncovered large scale of pollution, missing shared policies, unfinished projects, brutal border protection infrastructure, and shrinking biodiversity.

VIGO/TARANTO - Extreme weather events made more frequent and intense by climate change — including marine heatwaves and torrential rain — are wreaking havoc on shellfish production across southern Europe, threatening the livelihoods and traditions that depend on this important sector.

CATANIA — Almost 1000 alien marine species, many dangerous and extremely invasive, are spreading quickly across the world’s fastest-warming sea, the Mediterranean.