Additional Context: This information is based on 150 semi-structured interviews conducted by One Earth Partners across five countries selected to represent the diversity of USAID's environmental work. Interview findings were triangulated with a global survey of 175 respondents and external media analysis.

Devex Researcher Note: Environmental investigative journalism works to expose illicit networks, corporate polluters, and systemic weaknesses that drive climate degradation. Often operating in dangerous environments, reporters uncover stories on everything from transnational wildlife trafficking to toxic waste dumping. The USAID cuts have impacted hundreds of outlets in places where public interest journalism is chronically underfunded and often under attack. The U.S. government previously supported independent journalism in more than 30 countries. Most of this funding was channelled through USAID.

Source: One Earth Partners (Full report forthcoming).