[Inside the Newsroom] A fellowship for the planet

'I am going to Batangas to stay at a marine station with scientists working to bring citizen science closer to the public'

Hello! I cover environmental issues for Rappler, and this year my focus for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) lies on the ocean. 

With Australia as co-president of the summit, Pacific priorities are high on the agenda. The summit is billed as the “Blue COP,” with an Antalya ocean declaration in the works. 

The ocean is the world’s largest carbon sink. Being front and center of the climate negotiations has been a long time coming. 

I am joining seven other journalists from around the world to cover COP31 remotely through the ocean lens. Among the big questions we hope to shed light on: How will countries integrate ocean solutions in the complex architecture of the global climate regime? This question brings with it a host of other issues such as funding sources. 

On a personal level, the fellowship’s focus on oceans provides relief, giving me a single angle to latch on. Climate negotiations have their own language. Coverage of COPs requires dealing with a broad array of issues, such as poverty, displacement, hunger, waste, capitalism, wars, and even genocide. It requires a perspective that thinks in the big picture. 

An example is the sobering reminder from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the leaders’ summit: “Today, one cannot speak of the future of the planet without speaking of the wars that target soil, water, air, natural resources, and human lives.”

The summit, despite its own language, does not happen in a silo. In the backdrop of COP31 is the global fuel crisis and the war in Iran, the ecocide in Gaza, the El Niño that threatens fishers and farmers — and, in our own backyard, the hectic preparations for the ASEAN Summit. 

In every coverage we have always thought of ways to bring the COP to our readers. To deal with the local stories. This year, we are giving regular updates through our Muni chat app, making space for environmental advocates in our social and newsletter spaces. We mean to make conversations because this is where understanding starts (a fellowship of sorts). 

We are also recording (probably as you read this) another The Green Report podcast episode to wrap the developments of the week. Something to listen to on your commute home. 

In early November, as part of my fellowship, I visited a group of volunteer divers in Batangas who monitor coral bleaching in a marine reserve. 

Next week, I am going back to Batangas, in a different town, to stay at a marine station with scientists working to bring citizen science closer to the public. Their dream? That the ordinary fisherman learns to watch the waters, the changes in colors of the coral reef.

The COP is much about these communities on the ground as it is about the negotiators who deal in high-level, closed door meetings. We aim to report the stories from this broad spectrum to light. For starters, you can join our Muni chat here, or follow the COP stories from this page. – Rappler.com

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• COP31: What the Philippines wants for the ocean

– Rappler.com

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