Nina Lakhani, The Guardian’s environmental justice reporter, discusses her role. She joined in 2019, focusing on environmental and climate justice, emphasizing the importance of viewing climate change through an equity lens. She highlights a story involving Berta Cáceres, an Indigenous leader opposing the construction of a dam, underlining the importance of justice in climate reporting. Lakhani sees her role as a corrective in journalism, addressing diversity issues and the historical imposition of solutions on marginalized communities by environmental movements. She emphasizes covering Indigenous climate solutions, citing their sustainable practices. Lakhani believes solutions exist within these communities. In global climate negotiations, she urges journalists to use terms like “reparations” and “liability” to reflect community demands. In U.S. climate politics, Lakhani critiques the focus on vehicle electrification in the Inflation Reduction Act without addressing public transportation and battery environmental impacts. She calls for broader global perspectives in climate reporting, connecting energy projects with on-the-ground impacts on environmental justice communities.
