More journalists covering the climate crisis and environment issues in Asia feel physically threatened as a result of their work, compared to those in Europe and the Americas, based on new research backed by United Kingdom-based think tank Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ).
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The global survey of 268 journalists from 89 countries across five continents found that almost 34 per cent of environmental reporters in Asia confront physical dangers in their coverage.
Those from Africa also feel the most threatened at nearly 38 per cent, but colleagues from the Americas and Europe face the least possibility of bodily risks at 29 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
Asian journalists report more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are less likely to receive psychological help for this compared to their colleagues elsewhere, said the report, published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine Open.
Most also said that they have been personally affected by climate change, with 13 per cent of them having been evacuated during natural disasters.
Climate change made Asia the world’s most disaster-hit region in previous years, with Southeast and South Asia leading in floods and storms. The Philippines ranked first in the 2025 World Risk Index, followed by India and Indonesia, reflecting high exposure from monsoons and their locaton in the Ring of Fire, which forms a string of underwater volcanoes and earthquake sites around the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
“Journalists in Asia are paying a high emotional price for their work covering climate change. Unfortunately, they are not receiving sufficient psychological support, and where necessary, therapy for this,” said Dr Anthony Feinstein, professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto who led the study.
Asia ranks poorly overall in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, with most of its 32 countries and territories clustered in the “difficult” or “very serious” categories, reflecting economic pressures, political repression, and physical threats to journalists.
In Southeast Asia, Timor-Leste leads the region in press freedom at 39th place followed by Thailand at 85th place globally, then Malaysia (88th) and Brunei (97th). The Philippines, one of the world’s most dangerous country for journalists, ranked 116th, an improvement from the prior year, followed by Singapore (123rd) and Indonesia (127th). Lower ranks include Laos, Cambodia (161st), Myanmar (169th), and Vietnam (173rd).
Over the past 15 years, at least 34 journalists investigating illegal logging and palm oil expansion in the region, and in some cases chronicling the role of local authorities, have been threatened and assaulted, according to a UNESCO study in 2024. Furthermore, seven journalists were killed for their work reporting on these issues.
“These results indicate that the burden on journalists of climate change reporting, just like the burden of climate change in general, is differentially distributed,” said the RISJ report. “News organisations need to be aware of this. Given that the challenges posed by climate change will be with us for a long time, addressing these deficits in care should not be delayed any further.”
