Press Freedom Threats Against Environmental Journalists in Africa
45 documented cases of threats and violations against journalists covering climate and environmental issues.
1Alarming statistics on press freedom
Between March 2025 and March 2026, IPI documented 45 press freedom threats and violations affecting 58 journalists covering climate and environmental stories across Africa. State actors were responsible for approximately 62% of these incidents, highlighting government involvement in suppressing environmental reporting. The documented cases range from physical attacks to legal harassment, creating a hostile environment for journalists.
2Brutal case in DRC
In August 2025, Fiston Wilondja Mazambi was abducted, tortured, and killed while investigating illegal gold mining and alleged collaboration between rebel groups and government authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This extreme case demonstrates the lethal risks environmental journalists face when exposing corruption and illegal activities connected to natural resource exploitation in conflict zones.
3Violence in Mozambique and Ghana
In February 2026, Mozambican journalist Carlitos Cadangue was shot at after reporting on illegal mining and pollution. In Ghana, illegal miners attacked five journalists covering an operation to shut down mining sites in Obuasi. These incidents show how both state and non-state actors target journalists who expose environmentally destructive activities that often involve powerful economic interests.
4Judicial harassment tactics
IPI documented 13 cases of arrest and detention, along with numerous abusive lawsuits designed to burden and silence environmental reporting. These legal tactics, known as SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), create financial and psychological pressure on journalists, diverting resources from their investigative work while allowing perpetrators to avoid physical violence.
5UN engagement
IPI has submitted evidence of these violations to the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This submission comes ahead of a thematic report to the 64th session of the Human Rights Council focusing on environmental human rights defenders, positioning journalist protection as integral to environmental rights.
6Broader ecosystem impact
Attacks on environmental journalists deprive communities of critical information needed to participate in decisions about health, land, and livelihoods. When journalists are silenced, it creates information vacuums that enable environmental degradation and human rights violations to continue unchecked, particularly in resource-rich but governance-poor regions.
7Key recommendations
IPI urges states to end impunity for attacks on journalists, adopt anti-SLAPP legislation with early dismissal mechanisms, decriminalize defamation, and guarantee access to environmental information. These measures are particularly crucial before, during, and after environmental emergencies when information transparency is most vital for public protection.
8Systemic importance
The targeting of environmental journalists represents more than press freedom issues—it's an attack on the right to a healthy environment. Protecting these journalists is essential for sustainable development, as their work exposes environmental crimes, holds power to account, and empowers communities to defend their ecological rights and resources.
Original article: linkedin.com — Press Freedom Threats Against Environmental Journalists in Africa