Global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now (CCNow) has announced 49 winners of the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards, recognising outstanding climate reporting from newsrooms and journalists around the world.

Now in its sixth year, the awards have become a global benchmark for excellence in climate storytelling. This year, CCNow received more than 1,200 entries from journalists in dozens of countries, representing a broad range of the climate journalism profession. Winners were selected by a panel of 120 distinguished journalists from more than 30 countries, many of whom are former award winners and finalists.

Judges selected up to three winners across 14 subject-based categories, along with three winners in the large projects and collaborations category and three Emerging Journalists of the Year.

CCNow co-founder Kyle Pope highlighted the importance of the awards amid changing newsroom priorities. “Lifting up excellence in climate reporting is particularly important this year, as some newsrooms around the world have retreated from climate coverage even as the effects of a warming planet become more urgent,” said CCNow co-founder Kyle Pope. “This work offers a blueprint for re-engaging with the climate story.”

The 2026 Journalists of the Year are Kim Min-wook, an innovative broadcast journalist and filmmaker at South Korea’s MBC News; Roli Srivastava, founder and editor of The Migration Story, which covers India’s migrant labour force through a climate change lens; and Sammy Roth, founder of the culture-focused newsletter Climate-Colored Goggles and former Los Angeles Times journalist.

The three honourees were recognised not only for their reporting but also for their wider contributions to journalism and climate communities, including professional service, public education and mentoring younger journalists.

CCNow also presented its second Lifetime Achievement Award to Fiona Harvey of The Guardian, recognising her longstanding contribution to climate journalism.

“It’s a joy for CCNow to celebrate three colleagues — Kim Min-wook, Roli Srivastava, and Sammy Roth — who exemplify the same commitment to excellence and service to the public demonstrated by the Journalist of the Year winners who came before them,” said CCNow executive director Mark Hertsgaard. “And we’re particularly proud to give CCNow’s second Lifetime Achievement award to Fiona Harvey, who, for decades, has told the climate story with exceptional rigor, panache, and impact, while never losing sight that it is fundamentally about people and the future we all will inhabit.”

Other winning outlets include The Associated Press, BBC World Service, Miami Herald, Grist, Carbon Brief, Canary Media, Kenya’s Nation Media Group, Mexico’s El Universal and Brazil’s Agência Pública.

The awards are supported by the Michaux Family Foundation and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, which sponsors the Solutions category. -OGN/TradeArabia News Service