2025-05-19
BRUSSELS – Journalismfund Europe announces the names of two long-serving members of the jury for the Environmental Investigative Journalism grant programme: Jari Lyytimäki and Patrick Greenfield.
As is standard practice, Journalismfund maintains the anonymity of jury members during their mandate to protect independence of judgement, but makes their names public after they step down, as part of our commitment to transparency.
Patrick Greenfield and Jari Lyytimäki have been our jury members since the start of the Environmental Investigation Journalism grant programme in 2021. For nearly four years, both have brought deep insight and genuine dedication to supporting cross-border environmental investigations.
Jari Lyytimäki is a leading researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, where his work explores the many ways environmental issues intersect with society—from climate communication and water quality to the politics of mining and energy. He’s also the author of several books on environmental themes.
Reflecting on his time as a juror, Jari says: "There were always more good ideas than available funding, so the most difficult part was deciding which of the many strong proposals to fund. Many applications highlighted the diverse ways environmental issues are intertwined with society. Even within environmental issues, there are major and minor “trendy” themes that receive more attention than others - for example, climate or fossil and renewable energy."
In contrast, some specific issues such as environmental noise or light pollution have received very little attention, even though they may seriously affect the health of Europeans.
Patrick Greenfield is a biodiversity and environment reporter for The Guardian and The Observer, focusing on biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.
"I am very proud of the stories that we have helped make a reality, particularly in parts of Europe that have a weaker tradition of environmental journalism. Deciding which projects to fund has been great fun. Several ideas always jump out - a good story always grabs you immediately - and I find the inevitable lack of information about what happens next to be the hardest part of the process."
It has been an honour to serve as a jury member for the Journalismfund for the last four years.
We would like to thank both jurors for their invaluable contribution to the Earth investigations initiative.
