Annapurna Media Network, in association with USAID and National Democratic Institute (NDI), conducted a Climate Journalism Training Program on September 3-4. The training was dedicated to enhancing the skills of the journalists across Nepal to cover a much needed and vigorous reporting on climate change and its overall effect on the ecosystem.  The program, on the first day, was divided into three folds. Firstly, Arjun Dhakal, a climate change and policy expert, gave the trainees a brief idea on the policies in and out of Nepal that govern the issues related to climate change. He talked about the outcomes of those policies, as well as the challenges faced, specifically in Nepal, due to lack of a proper policy that properly mitigates the problems caused by the changing climate.  Biraj Singh Thapa, environment and technology expert, gave a detailed explanation with datasets, showing the increasing effect of climate change all across the world, especially South Asia. He presented the concept of hydrogen as a source of fuel. “It is expensive to completely shift towards a hydrogen based fuel system, especially in the context of Nepal,” he said, “Nevertheless, it is a long-term investment as well as environment-friendly.”

The training ended with the presentation of Sujata Karki, climate communication expert. She presented the fellow journalists with proper ways to properly communicate while reporting on a story involving climate and ecosystem. 

The second day was more of a practical session. The training started with a presentation from Siromani Dawadi, station manager at Radio Annapurna Nepal. His presentation was followed by a practical work where trainees worked in teams to form a sample report for radio broadcast.  Tikaram Yatri, Editor-In-Chief of AP1 HD television, had a Q&A session with participants related to interview skills. The program came to an end with the presentation of Akhanda Bhandari, editor of the Annapurna Post, where he discussed the dos and don’ts in journalistic writing.