Written by: Amr Sayed
This report is based on GIJN, the Global Investigative Journalism Network, and you can view the original report from here
Attempts to convince people of the importance of protecting the environment often fall on deaf ears, in our countries and around the world.
Many people simply don’t care. Society tends to assume that things like land, trees, plants, animals, and water resources—the resources they depend on for their livelihoods—will last forever. Overuse or misuse of resources is not an issue to them.
But getting the public’s attention isn’t the only challenge environmental journalists face. Writing about the environment as a fundamental issue in society presents journalists with a number of challenges. One of the most important is proving that climate change is a real threat.
The best way to convince is through accurate data and reliable references. Therefore, we have collected these references for you from globally accredited organizations.
United Nations Statistics Division
UNSD compiles environmental data from national and regional statistical offices and ministries and in some cases performs calculations. Downloadable datasets are available on many topics such as air and climate, biodiversity, energy and minerals, forests and more.
The World Bank
The World Bank has dozens of environment datasets by country and region, including forests, biodiversity, emissions, and pollution.
US Energy Information Administration
The U.S. Federal Reserve provides international energy statistics, broken down by petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity. Countries are ranked by production; consumption; reserves and capacity; imports and exports.
World Nuclear Association
The London-based Nuclear Industry Association maintains a searchable database of all nuclear reactors (decommissioned, active and under construction), including location, status, type, construction data, grid connection, owner, operator and capacity. It also provides statistics on nuclear generation, uranium production by country, fuel heat values and requirements.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
This US agency uses official data to chart global climate change, with fluctuations classified by temperature, carbon dioxide levels, snow, sea level, Arctic sea ice, ocean heat, solar energy, glaciers and greenhouse gases.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The site provides environmental policy briefs and other information by categories: biodiversity, water and natural resource management; climate change, consumption, innovation and environment; development and others. Country pages include detailed pollution and energy environmental indicators, statistics and downloadable datasets.
World Resources Institute
The non-profit research organization provides a database of experts that can be searched by keyword, country/region or topic of expertise. Direct contact information is provided for international experts affiliated with a university, NGO, company, government, international organization or association. They must have 5 years in a research or practitioner role and an advanced degree in a field related to ecosystem services.
The Nature Conservancy
The U.S.-based nonprofit has more than 600 scientists working on projects in 69 countries, and partners with individuals, governments, nonprofits and local businesses, according to its website. A list of experts by region and topic is available here.
World Wildlife Fund
Environmental Defense Group is a Swiss-based non-profit organization with a global presence, specializing in forests, marine, freshwater, wildlife, food and climate worldwide. A list of expert resources is available here.
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
The U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy organization has programs in India, China, Canada, and Latin America covering climate change, communities, energy, food, health, oceans, water, and wildlife. Expert resources, searchable by issue or program, are available here.
Friends of the Earth International
The environmental network includes 75 groups and thousands of local activists and is dedicated to “challenging the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promoting solutions that will help create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The ECOLEX database contains information on treaties, non-legal international law and other non-binding policy documents and technical guidance, national legislation, judicial decisions, and legal and policy publications. Summaries, indexing information and the full text of some documents are available.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The database provides the global conservation status of 76,000 plant and animal species, providing detailed information on populations, geographic locations, use, trade and environmental threats. Images and links to relevant external databases are also provided.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
ProtectedPlanet.net is the online interface to the World Database of Protected Areas, a joint project of IUCN and UNEP, which lists terrestrial and marine protected areas worldwide. ProtectedPlanet.net allows the user to view protected areas by exploring maps and searching, using information from WDPA, images from Panoramio and text descriptions from Wikipedia.
Society of Environmental Journalists
The Society of Environmental Journalists' old archive contains more than 1,500 links categorized by geography and topic.
