2023 Climate Solutions Reporting Award finalists
TORONTO, April 21, 2023 – The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is proud to announce its shortlist for the annual CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting that celebrates a journalist or team of journalists whose work shines a spotlight on climate change and innovative solutions in Canadian print, broadcast or online news reporting.
CJF thanks the generosity of founding award sponsor Intact Financial Corporation for providing the award’s $10,000 prize.
“At Intact, we see climate as a top priority as we’ve seen the impacts of climate change on customers and in our business for over a decade. It will continue to be the defining challenge facing society for the next century,” says Diane Flanagan, Deputy Senior Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Communications at Intact Financial.
“From our experience, we see that the most economically vulnerable communities are also the most climate vulnerable. Our focus on climate adaptation is guided by efforts to make these communities more climate resilient. We applaud and recognize the important role journalists play in sharing the information and climate solutions people need to build more resilient communities.”
The three finalists for this year’s award and their stories or series shortlisted are:
The Fifth Estate for The Big Burn, a report about “green-washing” in Canada’s wood pellet industry. The journalism and production team, including Allya Davidson, Harvey Cashore, Lynette Fortune, Alicia Lee, Jonathan Castell, John Badcock, Lyndsay Duncombe and Diana Swain, looked at sustainable forestry practices by Indigenous people and raised awareness that other sustainable methods might benefit from the government funding and support that the wood pellet industry currently receives.
The Narwhal for its reporting on Indigenous-led conservation efforts, led by Emma Gilchrist, Jimmy Thomson, Carol Linnitt, Shawn Parkinson, Arik Ligeti, Ashley Tam, Stephanie Kwetásel’wet Wood, Lindsay Sample, Taylor Roades and Jesse Winter. Thomson produced an immersive multimedia feature using interactive maps, videos and photography to highlight the impact of this work while Wood and Roades travelled to the territory of the Mamalilikulla First Nation to show how Indigenous nations are declaring protected areas based on their own sovereignty. Wood also looked inside the 50-year effort of the Squamish Nation to bring salmon back to the Squamish river. Taken together, this package represents an effort to challenge stereotypes and shift narratives from problems to solutions.
Kristin Nelson for stories produced and reported for CBC Radio about individuals grappling with the realities of climate change. Her stories included The Last Coal Miners, for The Doc Project and two segments for CBC Radio’s What on Earth: How Cracking Open a Climate Story Helps Kids Cope and a segment on How Canada can support low-income households in the transition to net zero.
“There is no doubt that we’re seeing the effects of climate change across this country and the world,” says jury chair Bob Ezrin. “This year’s finalists have gathered stories that explore the effects of this cataclysmic change. But they also highlight the hard work of those who are facing the crisis head-on by working on solutions.”
All finalists’ story submissions are available on our awards page.
The winner will be announced at the CJF annual awards ceremony on June 13 at the Royal York Hotel. For tickets, tables and sponsorship opportunities, see contact information below or visit the CJF Awards page.
The jury members are:
- Bob Ezrin, O.C. (chair), music and entertainment producer, educator, serial activist and CJF board member;
- Karl Dockstader, journalist and media host;
- Naresh Fernandes, editor, Scroll.in;
- Wendy Freeman, media executive;
- Rashida Jeeva, senior vice-president, marketing and communications, WWF-Canada;
- Heather Persson, chief communications officer and AVP strategic communications, University of Saskatchewan; and
- Abhay Singh Sachal, youth climate activist and co-founder and executive director, Break the Divide Foundation.
