As global attention turns to the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, Bangladeshi news organization The Climate Watch is preparing to bring South Asia’s climate struggles, demands and stories to the international stage.
Officially launched on November 3, 2024, The Climate Watch will deploy 8 journalists from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to cover the UN climate summit, scheduled for November 9-20. The team comprises 5 full-time journalists and 3 regional contributors, marking the publication’s largest international reporting operation to date.
While financial pressures have forced several established Western news organizations to reduce specialized reporting, The Climate Watch is expanding cross-border collaboration and investing in environmental journalism.
Founded in 2022 by award-winning Bangladeshi environmental journalist Shamsuddin Illius, The Climate Watch has developed into a regional platform connecting approximately 100 climate and environmental journalists.
“We are striving to become a voice for South Asia in global climate negotiations. Our countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change, and it is essential that we tell our own stories rather than rely solely on others to tell them for us,” Executive Editor Md Ibrahim Khalilullah said.
At COP31, its journalists will examine climate finance, adaptation, loss and damage, energy transition, biodiversity, displacement and climate justice, linking diplomatic negotiations to the everyday experiences of vulnerable communities.
The publication is also exploring collaborations with Shakti Foundation, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) and Change Initiative to strengthen its coverage.
The Climate Watch’s investigations have examined deforestation, industrial expansion, groundwater depletion and environmental governance. An investigation into forest destruction around Chittagong’s National Special Economic Zone documented biodiversity losses, with its findings subsequently cited in public-interest litigation.
Its reporting has received international references from The Guardian, The Diplomat, Mongabay, The New Humanitarian and Fiji Sun, alongside academic citations involving Columbia University’s Climate School and the National University of Singapore.
Through its Birds in Climate Crisis initiative, the publication is producing 100 short documentaries on threatened birds, habitat destruction and changing ecosystems.
The outlet also contributed to Dark Side of the Boom, an Earth Journalism Network-coordinated investigation involving 14 newsrooms across 11 countries that examined the environmental consequences of digital infrastructure.
The collaboration received a 2026 Covering Climate Now Journalism Award, a Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) environmental reporting award and a special citation associated with the Osborn Elliott Prize.
Having covered COP28, COP29, COP30 and Bonn’s SB64 negotiations, The Climate Watch is also preparing to report on biodiversity negotiations at COP17 in Armenia.
Alongside its reporting, the organization conducts journalist training and pre-COP fellowships with the Center for Participatory Research and Development.
For the relatively young newsroom operating from climate-vulnerable Bangladesh, the COP31 deployment represents an effort to shift South Asia’s position in the global climate conversation from a region whose suffering is frequently reported by others to one increasingly telling its own stories.
