Supported projects

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?

TUNIS - Since the 2011 Revolution for Dignity and Freedom, the European Union and individual member states have funded the Tunisian security apparatus with more than 500 millions euros.

KATHMANDU / ODEMIRA / BERLIN – This investigation has revealed that thousands of Nepali migrant workers face a system of informal agencies and debt bondage when working in Portuguese berry fields.

PARIS / BRUSSELS – Many Europeans would not know wild African meat is eaten in cities around Europe, tonnes and tonnes of it being smuggled for the demand of some African communities. What does it mean — for preservation of endangered species, but also for preservation of cultural identity, and how ...

AMSTERDAM/BRUSSELS - Belgium acts as a bin for the Dutch livestock industry.

BUCHAREST – This project has established an environmental journalism hub to educate Romanian journalists about the intricacies of investigative reporting on the environment.

NOVA KAKHOVKA – In June 2023 the Russian military targeted Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, triggering an ecocide that strained the ecological resilience of the region. The polluted water added to the Black Sea's ongoing environmental degradation because of negligence and weak ...

VLADIVOSTOK / BUSAN – After Russia attacked Ukraine, the West acted swiftly. Within months, the Western alliance imposed hard-hitting sanctions against the Eastern giant. However, these sanctions did not affect most Russian fishing industries, which kept exporting 1.1 billion USD of seafood into ...

BELGRADE / SKOPJE / SARAJEVO - Although Western Balkan countries keep reiterating their commitment to the green agenda and transition on their path to the EU membership, they still lag behind their EU neighbours in preserving our main resources like water, air and soil.

HONG KONG / WARSAW - Filipino workers are increasingly being lured by word of mouth and social media accounts promoting jobs in Poland.

ANTWERP/ROTTERDAM - The ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam are the main European gateway for cocaine. Publicly, the Netherlands and Belgium proclaim their united commitment to breaking the backbone of the drug trade. But behind the scenes, differences in political culture are at play, and resentment and ...

KIEV - In January 2024, Dutch investigative journalist Linda van der Pol and Belgian photographer Gena Kagermanov traveled to Ukraine to investigate the impact of the Russian invasion on the Ukrainian cultural sector in several cities.

FORT-DE-FRANCE / BASSE TERRE – This investigation goes behind the scenes of a French state scandal, tracing a historical route from governmental actors who approved use of chlordecone, a dangerous chemical, in agriculture, to the realities of victims speaking out today. Their testimonies highlight ...

JAKARTA / AMSTERDAM - It sounded so appealing to become an Au Pair in Europe on paper. Unsurprisingly a website like AuPairWorld.com, which matches au pairs and host families, displays hundreds of profiles of young women advertising their baby-sitting skills.

LISBOA - The non-voter time bomb is a data-driven journalism feature that profiles voter abstention across the European Union (EU) over the last 50 years and analyses it according to different demographic and socioeconomic indicators for each of the 27 member states.

MILAN/SOFIA/ARAD – Tens of thousands of tonnes of textile waste arrive in Romania and Bulgaria every year, mainly from Italy and Germany. Despite the fact the EU had acknowledged the extent of the textile waste smuggling across the continent, no strategy so far proved to be efficient in preventing ...

ROME / DHAKA - Of the many cases chronicling the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers in Italy, none is perhaps more visible yet underreported than the plight of rose sellers – a common sight in busy tourist destinations like Rome, Milan or Turin.

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.

BRUSSELS - Two young people are growing up in a world that is destroying itself. They each seek their own path and test how far they are willing to go in their actions.

SKOPJE – Local journalists have a unique role to play in changing the narrative around the world's environmental breakdown and becoming an essential part of the solution. The Independent Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers organised a several months-long training to equip journalists with ...

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 ...

MADRID - In January 2023 Maldita.es brought together 20 journalists from across Spain for a two-day training programme for journalists to equip them with practical tools to fight climate-related mis-/disinformation.

SKOPJE /TIRANA /PRISTINA – The levels of pollution in the capitals of the republics in the Western Balkans are extremely high. The investigation looks at the causes of this situation as well as the health problems that air pollution leads to.

BRUSSELS / ACCRA – The EU wanted to prevent further deforestation around the world with a new regulation on supply chains in the timber trade. But in Ghana it has the opposite effect.

ROME - NGOs carrying out rescue operations in the Mediterranean have been at odds with the Italian government for years. SOS MEDITERRANNEE claims to perform its duty as mandated by international maritime law. Italy fights back with administrative sanctions.

COPENHAGEN - Denmark dropped bombs in four key incidents in which civilians were reportedly killed or injured in the 2011 war that led to the overthrow of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, this investigation by Altinget and Airwars can reveal in partnership with the Guardian. 

BRUSSELS – Asbestos is now banned in 69 countries, but it is still found in our drinking water. Water pipes are made of asbestos cement release fibres that can be lethal when inhaled. Experts have warned about this problem for decades, but the issue persists. 

PARAMARIBO - The dream of gold is driving tens of thousands of Brazilians into the rainforest on the EU border between Suriname and French Guiana. They leave behind contaminated rivers and shattered illusions. Almost no one wins.

SIEGBURG — It is now four years since the EU's Clean Energy for All Europeans package had been adopted. How much progress has been made since then on the national levels? This project looks at Croatia, Germany, Poland, Greece, and Bulgaria.

ACCRA – Low-quality petrol and diesel are a major problem for air quality in West Africa. They contain toxic substances such as sulfur and the carcinogenic benzene. When they break down, cars emit even more toxic exhaust fumes over densely populated cities.