AFP launches global environmental and climate law desk

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 11 November 2026 |  JP Global Monitoring

Agence France-Presse has launched a specialist desk covering environmental and climate law, with philanthropic support. The team will supplement AFP's existing environment reporting and plans to recruit journalists in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Summary

PARIS — Agence France-Presse has launched a specialist international news desk dedicated to environmental and climate law, expanding its reporting on litigation, legislation, corporate accountability and environmental disinformation.

The Future of the Planet Legal Desk began operating with support from Australia's Minderoo Foundation and the UK-based Climate Change Collaboration, AFP announced on November 10. It is the first major project under the agency's Philanthropic Partnerships Initiative, established to secure outside funding for in-depth and investigative journalism.

Specialist journalists across three regions

AFP said the new desk would strengthen its existing environmental coverage by adding legal expertise and investigative resources. The team will examine court cases, regulatory decisions and corporate practices affecting environmental protection and climate policy.

AFP Editor-in-Chief Mehdi Lebouachera said environmental and climate law was becoming increasingly complex, while significant developments often received insufficient coverage or were poorly understood.

Ivan Couronne, previously responsible for AFP's Future of the Planet coverage, became the desk's founding editor in October. The agency plans to recruit specialist journalists in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with reporting that includes the experiences of communities affected by environmental damage and climate change.

The new team will also support AFP bureaus investigating complicated legal disputes. WAN-IFRA reported on November 10 that this could include strategic lawsuits against public participation, commonly known as SLAPPs, which are used to intimidate or silence journalists, campaigners and other critics.

Philanthropic funding and editorial independence

The desk's creation also reflects AFP's efforts to develop philanthropic funding as an additional source of support for journalism. Its reporting will be integrated into the agency's newsroom and made available through its network of more than 4,000 media clients, alongside digital platforms and social channels.

AFP identified the Minderoo Foundation and the Climate Change Collaboration as the initiative's supporters. The latter comprises The Aurora Trust, JJ Charitable Trust and Mark Leonard Trust. The agency did not disclose the amounts or duration of their financial commitments in its announcement.

The funding model raises questions about how news organizations can accept philanthropic support while protecting editorial independence.

AFP's code governing foundation-supported journalism requires funding transparency and the vetting of potential donors. It states that foundations cannot influence editorial decisions, obtain advance access to reporting or determine how journalism is distributed.

These are the agency's stated safeguards rather than independently verified measures of their effectiveness.

Karl Malakunas, AFP's head of philanthropic partnerships, told WAN-IFRA that the agency had established a separation between donors and journalists, with editorial priorities determined internally. He said securing philanthropic funding had proved difficult, particularly because environmental foundations were not traditionally major supporters of journalism.

Malakunas also described AFP's work to measure the wider consequences of its investigations, including whether reporting influences public debate, attracts attention from lawmakers or produces other documented outcomes.

Expanding investigative journalism

AFP announced its philanthropic partnerships initiative in December 2024 as part of a broader effort to strengthen investigative reporting on environmental issues, disinformation and other subjects of public interest.

The environmental law desk represents an early test of that approach. Its development comes as climate-related disputes increasingly move into courts, with governments and corporations facing legal challenges over emissions, pollution and environmental damage.

The relevance extends to Pakistan, where AFP reported on November 9 that farmers affected by the devastating 2022 floods were pursuing compensation claims against two German companies over their alleged contribution to climate change. Both companies dispute the claims.

For news organizations, such cases underline the growing importance of journalists who can explain complex legal proceedings, examine accountability claims and report on their consequences for affected communities.

ATTRIBUTION: Based on AFP's announcement of November 10, 2026, its December 2024 philanthropic initiative announcement, and WAN-IFRA's November 10 reporting. Additional context from AFP's November 9, 2026, report on climate litigation involving Pakistani farmers and the agency's editorial funding guidelines.

PHOTO: AI-generated; for illustrative purposes only.