Supported projects

LONDON / BERLIN – This investigation reveals how oil and gas equipment intended to reduce methane is hiding pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from researchers. And while flaring is said to be decreasing globally, in many cases, it hadn’t stopped at all.

BRUSSELS - Conspiratorial groups and influencers that once focussed on Covid-19 are increasingly pivoting towards attacking the EU's climate policies and sowing disinformation. Ahead of the EU's parliamentary elections, climate disinformation is ramping up, with the far-right looking to benefit.

LONDON – What is the connection between widespread sales of nicotine vapes in Nigeria, the use of vapes by teenagers in the UK, and the pollution caused by vape pods and cartridges in Burkina Faso? And what does it all have to do with the regulations on vapes by the European Commission? Read more in ...

PUGLIA / AMSTERDAM – With climate change, diseases that previously wouldn't thrive in Europe have a greater chance of survival, making the peril for agriculture greater than ever. A system with very open borders for plant imports is threatening agriculture in the southern part of the European Union ...

RONCILIONE / CAMPO DE CARTAGENA – The EU aims to reduce fertiliser overuse, but it faces the resistance of the industry and farmers alike. This investigation examines the cases of two hotspots in Italy and Spain, scrutinizing contamination drivers and assessing health, environmental, and economic ...

SVETI NICOLE / ELBASAN – Could a waste management facility become New Chernobyl? Some people in North Macedonia are eager to believe this. This investigation looked into facts and disinformation surrounding waste management project in Western Balkans.

KABWE – More than four decades after the news broke about the illness caused by lead poisoning in Kabwe, Zambia, journalists dig deep to learn how victims' lives have changed since the World Bank provided $65 million in assistance to the Zambian government.

CAIRO / TUNIS / ALGIERS - This investigation shows how – as countries in MENA are seeking to boost gas production to meet European gas demand – they are allowing fracking to take place in fields in order to maximise production. Fracking often takes place near villages and farmland, and threatens the ...

DAMASCUS - The Mesopotamia, an ancient cradle of civilisation, is formed by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. But due to drought and the construction of Turkish dams, the rivers are in danger of drying up.

WICKLOW / CERVIA – This investigation looked into how commercial interests backed by public money are decimating Europe’s remaining wetlands, as national authorities ignore this ongoing exploitation. 

SUCRE - You cannot escape the smoke when driving through Bolivia during the dry season. Left and right, people burn their garbage and their fields. As such, fire has been used as an agricultural technique here for centuries - and increasingly out of control. 

BUCHAREST - For almost 9 years, Romania has been criticised and monitored by the European Commission for allowing the large-scale destruction of several mountain rivers for the purpose of building micro-hydropower plants, without complying with the Water Framework and Habitats Directives.

SKOPJE / THESSALONIKI - Investigative teams from IRL in North Macedonia and Inside Story in Greece examined thousands of pages of documents, interviewed numerous stakeholders and authorities, and surveyed the Axios/Vardar basin and its facilities. The aim was to identify the environmental pressures ...

COLOMBO - A Sri Lankan scientist, also a young mother, is trying to map the patterns of migrating coral larvae to protect the future of coral reefs and her people.

PAMPLONA / LISBON / BRUSSELS — Energy communities are a clean and democratic alternative entering the complex energy market. Through this model, citizens can take back the means of energy production. This investigation looks into whether the citizen-led initiatives can fit into the market on par ...

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?

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 ...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

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.