India–Germany Climate and Energy Journalism Programme
Participants in the programme will learn about:
- Green technologies and industrial policy
- Energy shifts and gender dimensions
- Green skills, labour migration and workforce needs
- Trade and EU–India policy links, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
All training sessions will be held online at the end of February and will be accessible exclusively to the cohort.
After completing the programme, the journalists will get the chance to collaborate across borders and report on a story with a cohort partner and receive a grant of €1400.
Please read the FAQs carefully and make sure to apply by 22 January.
Frequently Asked Questions
Journalists based in Germany or India with a minimum of five years of professional experience in journalism.
In order to apply journalists need to provide:
- Two recent work examples published in independent media on climate topics, ideally with some connection to the topic of migration, gender, trade, green tech or politics.
- A letter of intent from an editor from an established media outlet committing to publication of stories resulting from this cohort, specifically on India – German climate collaboration. Freelancers need to include a letter from an outlet that has agreed to publish their reporting. Please note that you are only eligible for a cross-border grant if you include a letter of intent with your application.
Communication about and within the programme will be in English, so we expect journalists to be comfortable in this language. Publications resulting from the programme can be in any language.
We will select 14 journalists for the cohort, seven based in India and seven based in Germany.
You will receive four online days of training (two 1,5 hour sessions per day) on India-German climate relations, social dimensions of energy shifts, green technology, EU policies, green skills and labour migration and more. The aim of these trainings is to provide journalists with story ideas, new contacts and potential sources.
If you attended at last three of the training days, you will be eligible to enter a pitch for a cross-border story with someone else from the cohort. If your pitch is up to the standards of the organisers, both team members will receive €700 net for their reporting, amounting to a total of €1400 per team.
If you sign up for the programme we expect you to take part in all four training days which will take place on:
20 February
24 February
25 February
27 February
Per day there will be two sessions, so eight in total:
Session 1: 09.30 – 11.00 am CET / 14.00 – 15.30 IST
Session 2: 11.30 – 13.00 CET / 16.00 – 17.30 IST
We expect the cross-border stories to be researched and published between March and the end of June 2026.
We will share a final version of the programme with all the journalists in the cohort latest by 10 February.
Journalists have until 22 January 17.00 CET/21.30 IST to send in their application. You will find out latest by 4 February whether or not you have been selected.
Clean Energy Wire in collaboration with Indian newsroom The Migration Story, with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Please contact Ekin Deniz Hoş via event@cleanenergywire.org