TBS Ctg Chief Shamsuddin Illius, among 20, receives CCMP fellowship to cover COP26

The Business Standard's Chattogram Bureau Chief Shamsuddin Illius was awarded a fellowship to cover the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) by the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security on Thursday.

He was among 20 journalists awarded the fellowships as part of the Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) program.

The 2021 CCMP fellows will attend and report on COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland from 4 November till 12 November.

The conference will also follow the recent release of the IPCC 6th Assessment report, as well as the globally disruptive Covid-19 pandemic, which will both factor into the discussions, said an EJN Report. 

The fellows will receive support and guidance from seasoned climate journalists affiliated with EJN's global network of trainers.

The fellows will also participate in orientation activities, daily briefings, interviews with high-level officials, and other interactions organised by EJN and the Stanley Center to inform and facilitate quality reporting on developments at COP26.

"After a year-long delay, the negotiations at COP26 and the commitments made there have grown even more consequential," said Devon Terrill, Journalism and Media Program Officer for the Stanley Center.

"Journalists need to be there to report on these important developments and hold their countries' delegations accountable," he added.

"Along with so many other impacts, for more than a year the pandemic has hampered journalists' ability to cover the increasing impacts of climate change and efforts to address the crisis," noted James Fahn, EJN's Executive Director.

"We are pleased to be able to organize this opportunity for a group of talented climate journalists from 15 countries to travel to Glasgow and cover such an important COP in person," he remarked.

The journalists participating in the 2021 CCMP fellowship program were selected from a global open call that drew close to 400 applications, almost doubling the number from the same call in 2019. 

Other CCMP fellows are Albert Oppong-Ansah (Ghana News Agency, Ghana), Daniel Kaburu (K24 TV, Kenya)  Isaac Anyaogu, (BusinessDay Media Ltd, Nigeria), Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi(Peoples Gazette, Nigeria) Aïda Delpuech (Inkyfada, Tunisia), Disha Shetty (Health Policy Watch, India), Rishika Pardikar (The Wire, India) Sibi Arasu (Livemint, India) Yunanto Wiji Utomo (Kompas.com, Indonesia), Baktygul Chynybaeva (Azattyk Media, Kyrgyzstan) Zhai Yun Tan (The Edge Malaysia, Malaysia), Mukesh Pokhrel (Himal Media (Nepal) Muhammad Daud Khan (Pakhtunkhwa Radio, Pakistan), Patricia Marie Robles (Rappler, Philippines), Gaea Katreena Cabico (Philstar.com, Philippines), Anastasiia Zagoruichyk (Ekonomichna Pravda, Ukraine), Adriana Souza (CNN Brasil, Brazil), Jéssica Maes (Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil), María Mónica Monsalve Sanchez (El Espectador, Colombia)  

The 2021 CCMP program is co-organised by Internews' EJN and the Stanley Center.

Financial support for EJN has been provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the Marisla Foundation and the Flora Family Foundation.