Climate Home News is seeking pitches on the trends shaping the extraction, processing and governance of key raw materials for the energy transition, including lithium, nickel, copper and rare earths.
The race to secure minerals and metals used to manufacture clean energy technologies has ushered in a new era for mining and natural resource diplomacy.
However, the world is at risk of trading one crisis for another without robust regulations and practices to ensure that mineral extraction and processing doesn’t come at the expense of environmental protection and respect for human rights.
At Climate Home News, we want to investigate ideas, innovations and practices to clean up mineral supply chains while holding actors that cause social and environmental harm to account. This work is part of our Clean Energy Frontier series.
What we are looking for
We are looking for news stories and more in-depth pieces that robustly examine ways to address social and sustainability challenges in the minerals supply chain, track global governance efforts and hold large players accountable for harms to people and the environment.
This could include:
- Technological advances in extraction and processing, supply chain traceability, battery technology and recycling that help limit the environmental impact associated with producing clean energy technologies and ease pressure for new mining.
- Policies designed to address sustainability challenges and social conflict in mineral supply chains.
- Efforts by countries to add value to their mineral resources and ensure local people meaningfully engage with, and benefit from, mineral extraction and processing. We also want to know what is being done globally to support these efforts.
- Best practice examples of how local communities can effectively and equitably benefit from mining projects and where benefit-sharing has gone wrong.
- Developments in the global governance of mineral supply chains, such as regional or international agreements.
- How global trade deals and restrictions are reshaping minerals supply chains and who stands to benefit (or lose out).
- Financial flows and mechanisms to support developing countries’ green industrialisation agendas and the development of clean energy manufacturing.
The ideal story will have an original angle that captures the attention of our international audience.
Most of the articles we are seeking to commission are news stories. However, we are also open to pitches for investigative reporting.
What we are not looking for
- Stories about community opposition to a renewable energy project
- Stories about opposition to mining projects which fail to robustly investigate the reasons for the opposition or fail to engage with local authorities and mining companies
- Stories about start-ups and technological innovations that fail to robustly examine the company’s claims
- Stories about technologies that cannot be scaled or are still at very early pilot stages
- Stories about the challenges posed by end-of-life technologies that don’t address solutions to reduce and mitigate waste
- Stories focusing solely on social and environmental challenges in the mineral supply chain that don’t explore ways to address these issues
- Stories already covered in other media outlets
- Stories that we have already covered
Who can pitch
We welcome pitches from journalists with at least three years’ experience.
You must have fluent spoken and written English. Journalists from all countries are welcome to apply.
We will prioritise reporters who have experience covering climate change, energy, mining or business stories. It helps if you have worked with international media before.
How to pitch
Your pitch should include:
- The top line of the story and essential context in no more than 250 words. If we like the idea, we will ask for more detail
- The sources you would interview (we expect at least three sources for a standard news story)
- Any travel requirement for deeply reported and investigative pieces
- A short summary of your journalism experience, including links to three recent stories you are proud of
We can offer a rate of $0.46 per word for news stories up to 800 words. Fees for investigative and deeply reported stories are agreed on a case by case basis. Travel costs will be negotiated in advance and reimbursed subject to valid receipts.
Please send your pitches with the word ‘Pitch’ in the subject line to project editor Chloé Farand by emailing chloe.farand[at]outlook.com.
The use of AI
We are committed to producing accurate, fair, balanced and independent reporting at all times. Original reporting lies at the heart of what we do. It is the reason why our readers have continued to trust us to produce high-quality and public interest journalism.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a tool to support research. However, we ask journalists contributing to Climate Home not to use AI to write pitches and stories. We will not respond to pitches that appear to be AI-generated. When contacting us for the first time, please provide clear evidence of your track record as a journalist so that we can verify your identity.
