CNA wins gold at WAN-IFRA awards with climate change series on Pacific islands

SINGAPORE: For its in-depth look at how three Pacific island-nations are fighting climate change and the lessons they offer, CNA picked up a top award at this year’s WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media Awards on Wednesday (Nov 5). 

CNA’s sustainability correspondent Jack Board won the gold medal under the “Best Climate Impact Story” category at the awards ceremony held at the Conrad Singapore Orchard hotel, which was attended by senior business and editorial leaders from the region and around the world. 

In the three-part “Rising Tides: Lessons from Pacific Islands’ Climate Survival” series published last year, CNA explored how climate change is reshaping coastlines, challenging the wills of governments and shaping the futures of young people in the Pacific islands.

Taking on the roles of writer, photographer and videographer, Mr Board travelled to Tuvalu, Fiji and Kiribati to capture the stories, dilemmas and unwavering resilience of communities living on the frontlines of climate change. 

“It’s encouraging to know that this kind of ambitious and original work - that we took time to conceptualise, plan and execute - can stand alongside some of the most impactful climate reporting out there,” said Mr Board, 38, who has been a journalist for 16 years.

“To have this story chosen in such a competitive field means a lot, not just for me personally, but because it shows that stories about people living on the frontlines of climate change are resonating on a global stage.” 

The silver award in the category was won by Japan Times for its reports on how Japan is coping with extreme and rising heat due to climate change.

The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is the global organisation of the world’s media and has an international network of 3,000 news publishing companies and technology entrepreneurs, and together with 60 member publisher associations, represents 18,000 publications in 120 countries.

This year’s WAN-IFRA Asian Digital Media Awards drew 228 entries from 41 media outlets across 17 countries.

The first part of the “Rising Tides: Lessons from Pacific Islands’ Climate Survival” series by Mr Board delved into the existential questions facing local communities in Tuvalu, one of the world’s smallest and most climate-vulnerable nations. 

The tiny nation is predicted to be among the first to disappear beneath rising seas due to the rising tides that bite away at its fragile coastline. 

Another article in the series explored Fiji’s ambitious national policy to manage the potential relocation of hundreds of villages threatened by climate change that is complicated by the country’s deep cultural ties to its land. 

The last of the series focused on Kiribati, another low-lying Pacific nation also caught in a dilemma - of moving its people to an undeveloped estate in neighbouring Fiji or scrapping for climate finance to save its land with coastal defences. 

The three-part Pacific island series has already clinched an earlier accolade for Mr Board, who is based in Bangkok and has been a journalist with CNA since 2013.

In September, he also emerged a winner at the prestigious Covering Climate Now awards, which are among the most respected in climate journalism, with more than 1,200 entries from nearly 50 countries and judged by more than 100 experienced journalists worldwide this year.

His series was among three winners in the Displacement and Migration category, which was one of 14 under the awards.

Describing his reports as “comprehensive, well-researched, and, critically, respectful” of their subjects, the judges said that while the plight of the Pacific Islands region is well known, Mr Board’s work stands out for its strong characters, policy depth and empathetic storytelling. 

“These are richly detailed, benchmark stories,” the judges said. “They exemplify high-impact journalism.”