Lensa Iklim

Introduction

In March 2022, Klima Action Malaysia (KAMY) with the support of the European Climate Foundation (ECF), launched Lensa Iklim, a climate journalism and energy journalism program in Peninsula Malaysia that aims to upskill and empower Malaysian journalists and mainstream news media to improve climate change and energy transition reporting.

The Problems and Challenges We See in Climate Journalism in Peninsula Malaysia

Lack of in-depth climate and energy transition reporting in Peninsula Malaysia.
Climate journalism in Peninsula Malaysia is under-reported and has an event/disaster based reporting trend.
Lack of data, crucial information, and experts for accurate and unbiased climate and energy transition reporting.
Journalists face a lack of time, funding, and language barrier to properly understand and decipher climate and energy science, governmental policies, international reports, and other related technicalities due to its complicated nature.
Lack of initiative from news media to accelerate climate and energy transition stories.
Lack of interest and traction from readers on climate or energy news due to the repetitive and one-sided nature of the news.
Lack of intersectionality between climate and energy transition news, as they are predominantly framed by finance and lack the human lens.

How Lensa Iklim Aims to Address the Problems and Challenges

Lensa Iklim was formed to empower journalists in Peninsula Malaysia in climate crisis and energy transition reporting. The long-term aim is to strengthen climate communication in Malaysia, under the Right to Information objective, thus increasing the public’s climate literacy. The programme also has a short-term goal to increase the capacity of journalists, in the news media and newsroom sector, in Peninsular Malaysia on climate crises specific to the energy sector and “Just Transition”. Since the inception of the programme in 2022, we have done:

1. Capacity building for journalists for climate and energy transition through workshops.
Journalists are taught essential climate and energy transition topics, such as climate policies and governance, the IPCC report, and COP UNFCCC processes.

2. Mentorship for the publication of climate-energy stories.
Mentorship by experts is currently ongoing for journalists publishing climate-energy stories in January-February 2023.

3. Publication of a year long research report “Climate-Energy Transition Media Reporting in Peninsular Malaysia.”
This report aims to analyse the challenges faced by journalists and newsrooms reporting climate-energy stories in Peninsula Malaysia and will be released in early 2023.

4. Climate resource hub.
The hub is currently developed to provide a guide and breakdown of topics, a list of experts and critical climate and energy policies and regulations.

Why Just Peninsula Malaysia ?

The main media that we are looking at are housed in Peninsula Malaysia. Furthermore, the social-cultural and political issues in East Malaysia vary drastically from that of Peninsula Malaysia, therefore, it would only be fair to provide East Malaysia with an analysis of its own with a voice that understands and focuses on these issues.

Resources from Lensa Iklim Workshops

Lensa Iklim’s series of workshops were carried out between June to August 2022.

13 Ogos 2022

Climate Journalism: Pitching for Climate and Environment

To provide journalists and editors valuable insights on the state of climate journalism locally and globally and how to pitch for.....

16 Julai 2022

Malaysia’s Climate Policy Framework and Climate Politics at UNFCCC

Journalists are introduced to the national climate policies and what drives them, get a basic understanding of climate politics in the.....

18 Jun 2022

Introduction to Climate Change

Journalists are introduced to the basics of climate science, climate impacts in Malaysia and the backbone of climate action; the IPCC report.

23 Julai 2022

Corporate Sustainability 101 And Key Market Mechanisms

To update journalists on the role of the private sector and businesses in addressing the gap of climate finance and the long-term.....

2 Julai 2022

Introduction to Energy and Systemic Shift Concepts

Journalist are introduced to the concept of energy and its lack of coverage linking to the global climate crisis.

"Climate-Energy Transition Media Reporting in Peninsular Malaysia" Research

This report runs a data analysis on the climate and energy transition reporting of the news media in Peninsula Malaysia, with supporting analysis of the interviews from journalists and editors of various news media. It is set to be published early next year.

Access our microsite here! <LINK>

Articles Published by Lensa Iklim Journalists

TBC - will contain Journalists Info and Published article info and link.

The People Behind Lensa Iklim

Programme Manager

Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar is the programme director of Klima Action Malaysia (KAMY).

Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar

Programme Coordinator

Nur Fatihah Ahmad Fauzi is the programme coordinator for the Lensa Iklim program. She is a recent graduate of BASc in Environmental Biology from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). She is currently volunteering as a copywriter at USM LineHayat, which is a start-up that provides listening services to USM students.

Nur Fatihah Ahmad Fauzi

Finance Admin

Aishah Shapari is the Finance Admin for Lensa Iklim. She is currently in her final year of ACCA at Sunway College. She has a strong background in accounting and a passion for sports, as she is also the President of Sunway Sports Council.

Aishah Shapari

Research Lead

Sumei Toh is the lead researcher for the “Climate-Energy Transition Media Reporting in Peninsular Malaysia” report. She has a background in biology and a MSc in Environment and Development. She has an extensive background in environmental consulting and researching.

Sumei Toh

Research Assistance

Kucheal Arivalagan is the research assistance for the “Climate-Energy Transition Media Reporting in Peninsular Malaysia” report. She is a recent graduate in Biotechnology from Taylor’s University and has a passion for science and learning.

Kucheal Arivalagan

Resource Hub Curator

Nazira Haszar is the curator for KAMY resource hub. She has a degree in Bachelor of Environmental Science at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and is passionate about climate and conservation.

Nazira Haszar

Advisors

Nadiah Rosli is an experienced freelance journalist and is currently the Project Director of Internews Network, where she is working on “Suara Masyarakat”, a program aimed at utilising the Malaysian media to promote and amplify media transparency and accountability while also incorporating awareness for the youths, marginalised individuals and communities. She has a MLitt in Environment, Culture and Communication and has gained extensive experiences in environmental journalism, especially in conservation projects.

Nadiah Rosli

Evelyn Teh is a Senior Researcher at Third World Network. She has a background in many fields, as she started out as a Marine Biologist and branched to Environmental Design and recently City Design and Social Science. She has wide knowledge and experience in environmental science, policies and design.

LENSA IKLIM