Our Work/Environment: Where Climate Meets Labor in the Mekong

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From Cambodian farms to Thai construction sites, Thai rice fields, and Israeli orange orchards, the links between climate change and migration (global and domestic) are rarely discussed in the Mekong region, yet they are ever-present. The lives of the Mekong’s workers are being challenged and shaped daily by economic downturns, geopolitical conflicts, political instability, and the climate crisis. The Pulitzer Center’s Our Work/Environment Initiative has produced valuable reporting and insights into how the region’s workers are affected by heatwaves, droughts, and floods. We will also explore the wider context, which is compounded by rampant worker rights violations and weak governance.

This webinar aims to inform, motivate, and inspire participants to tell their stories and in so doing foster participants’ knowledge and self-confidence in telling a story about the environmental changes affecting their communities. Tune in to this live virtual webinar on November 8, 2023, from 6:00pm-7:30pm ICT/6:00am-7:30am EST, where Bhasker Tripathi, India’s Young Environment Journalist of the year in 2019 and Climate & Labor grantee at the Pulitzer Center, will share how Indian farmers are already paying the price of climate change.

He will be joined by Thai slow fashion advocate Kamonnart, who will talk us through the urgency for a transition to regenerative fashion and the role of media and audiences in pushing businesses and governments to change policy.

Finally, Pulitzer Center Climate & Labor Editor Christine Spolar will give us an overview of the initiative and discuss what it means to us all and the opportunities available for those who want to report on this essential topic.

Registration is required.

Speakers

• Christine Spolar, Pulitzer Center climate and labor editor
• Bhaskar Tripathi, Pulitzer Center grantee
• Kamonnart Ongwandee, Slow fashion advocate, textile designer, and creative strategist dedicated to the activation of positive movement towards the future of fashion. She is a young advocate driven by a passion to solve social issues with sustainability principles, ethically-made textiles, and spread her words over the years through her role as Thailand country coordinator of Fashion Revolution, a U.K.-based non-profit which aims for a safe, clean, and fair fashion industry. She was recently appointed as a member of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, pushing forward fashion as one of the driving forces for creative and circular economy.