Capacity for quality climate reporting at BNT

Ten journalists from Bulgarian National Television (BNT) participated in the BlueLink Foundation's program, "Expert and Scientific Support for Socially Responsible Journalism on Climate Issues." During a two-day seminar, editors, reporters from "Around the World and at Home", and correspondents from Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, and Blagoevgrad worked with leading Bulgarian and international experts to look beyond dry statistics and better combine scientific data, policies, and human destinies in television coverage of one of the greatest challenges of our time.

After an introduction to the program, Pavel Antonov, managing editor of BlueLink, and Genoveva Radeva, deputy director of news at BNT, on September 11, 2025, Dr. Maria Trifonova from the Faculty of Economics at Sofia University illustrated the scale of the problem with specific data: the damage caused by extreme weather events in Europe over the last 40 years has reached €738 billion, with €162 billion of that – an amount equal to the EU's annual budget – accumulated over the previous three years alone (2021-2023).

This was followed by an analysis of the direct impact of climate change on key sectors such as agriculture, with the participation of Assoc. Prof. Vaska Georgieva (NIMH) and Dr. Stoilko Apostolov (Bioselena). Prof. Teodora Peneva and Senior Assistant Prof. Dimitar Sabev from the Institute for Economic Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences drew attention to the social and economic costs of the green transition and assessed the prospects for improving the lives of people in the affected regions and reducing energy poverty.
 

A participant asks a question during an expert presentation. Photos: BlueLink

Prof. Diana Urge-Forzatz, Vice-Chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), emphasized the existing scientific consensus on climate change. As one of the most influential voices on the topic in Central and Eastern Europe, she sent a clear message to journalists: "The real challenge before us is to translate this complex subject into the language of the people and show how it affects their lives." The Bulgarian side of the climate equation was presented by Assoc. Prof. Lilia Boicheva, Director of Meteorology at the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH), explained the latest data on climate trends in Bulgaria.

Prof. Diana Urge-Forsatz: We must not resign ourselves to global climate change. Photos: BlueLink

The program continued with complex topics of high journalistic interest. The link between climate and health was presented by Senior Assistant Professor Dr. Zornitsa Spasova (National Center for Public Health and Analyses). She presented data on the increase in domestic violence and cases of femicide during heat waves.
The mechanisms of climate migration were explained by Iva Alexandrova, a researcher at the University of Sheffield, UK, and former head of department at the UN International Organization for Migration. In response to questions about political decision-making mechanisms, former Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policy Borislav Sandov outlined European and national decarbonization targets and how they are being achieved by institutions.

Borislav Sandov: The data speaks for itself. Photos: BlueLink

The program, implemented in full cooperation with the management of BNT, demonstrated exceptional attention to the beneficial practical effect for the participating journalists, Antonov emphasized. This was facilitated by the selection and high scientific level of the participating experts, as well as the exceptional professionalism and interest of the television participants selected by BNT, he added. The training is the first stage, after which the participants will apply the information and data they have received in their practical news work, Radeva explained. During this period, BlueLink continues to provide expert and logistical support to the participants, and their efforts and the results of the program will be presented at a special public event in the spring.

More information about the BlueLink Foundation's "Expert and Scientific Support for Socially Responsible Journalism on Climate Issues" program can be found here. 

BlueLink implements the program with co-financing from European Climate Foundation.