The Clean Energy Wire (CLEW) is an independent non-profit, non-partisan service for journalists and the interested public. They are committed to providing and supporting quality journalism about the energy transition in Germany.
Motivation
Transforming the energy system of the world's fourth largest economy has entered a new phase. Rapid growth of renewable energy and the broad consensus to phase out nuclear power have opened up new opportunities, added fresh challenges and increased complexity. The country's so-called Energiewende project changes not only markets and business models but reaches deep into society and well beyond Germany's borders.
The Clean Energy Wire provides well-researched, fact-based and unbiased information as well as support for international journalists reporting on the energy transition. They are convinced that quality journalism plays a key role in productive domestic and international debates, which are essential for a successful move to a low-carbon economy.
The Clean Energy Wire is committed to the highest standards in journalism. Their charter sets out the principles that govern their own work.
Their correspondents and freelance contributors deliver an overview of the debate in Germany and write about relevant developments to keep users up to date. A regular digest provides a snapshot of how the media covers the Energiewende and a collection of other materials, such as studies or new data.
The Clean Energy Wire team provides facts, figures and analysis on the broader themes of the Energiewende in regularly updated dossiers. They tell the stories of the energy transition using a range of journalistic formats, aiming for a 360° view of this generational project. All dossiers contain contacts, sources and resources for journalists who want to produce their own take on the sweeping changes in Germany.
They support journalists covering German energy policy in other ways, too. They help with research, dig out data, and establish contacts with experts, energy-related projects and policymakers. They publish a carefully curated database of experts online and help on request to find the right people to talk to in companies, ministries or individual energy projects.
The best reporting is still done on the ground. Therefore, they offer study tours and workshops that put international journalists right at the heart of the energy transition and its issues. They create opportunities to see the changes, to visit individual projects and to speak with experts, politicians and the people who make the Energiewende happen.
As a non-profit organisation, the Clean Energy Wire can offer its services free of charge thanks to its funders, Stiftung Mercator (stiftung-mercator.de) and the European Climate Foundation (europeanclimate.org).
Objective
Precise, fact-based information and high quality journalism have a key role to play in the social and political debate about the best way to achieve a low-carbon energy supply. CLEW supports media professionals in their work by providing them with information, research aids and cooperation, enabling them to properly prepare and understand this complex topic.
How will this be achieved?
As a non-profit initiative, CLEW is able to offer its services free of charge. Upon request, journalists are given information or put in touch with people willing to talk to them. In addition, CLEW provides information on its website, primarily in English, as well as organizing events for journalists such as press trips about all aspects of the energy transition.
How is the project organized?
Six journalists and media experts work at CLEW’s Berlin offices in Rosenstrasse. CLEW and klimafakten.de are programme areas run by a non-profit company whose managing partners are Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation (ECF).
