Investigations

Complexity: An Important Lesson Learned

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Flooding, like climate change itself, is deeply complex. It involves a vast web of actors, overlapping initiatives, and an ever-expanding body of legislation. 

At the outset of our investigation, we imagined we could uncover negligence simply by sending out a wave of FOI and EIR requests and identifying those who had failed in their responsibilities. But what we uncovered was more complicated. The problem is not simply negligence; it is disjointedness – and can better be described as a fragmented response, leaving gaps between some initiatives. 

Although climate change touches every corner of Europe, its consequences are uneven. Each landscape carries its own vulnerabilities, and floods take on different forms depending on terrain, climate, and history.

Hazardous Companies

Novo Nordisk advarer om produktionsstop og medicinmangel ved et PFAS-forbud

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Forslaget om et EU-forbud af PFAS rejst af Danmark og fire andre lande kan føre til ”omfattende lukning af medicinproduktion i Europa” og stille mere end ”600 essentielle lægemidler i farezonen”. Det advarer lægemiddelsbranchens europæiske organisation EFPIA om i et høringssvar til EU’s kemikalieagentur ECHA. Udover høringssvaret har brancheforeningens formand, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, administrerende direktør i Novo Nordisk, derefter henvendt sig direkte til EU-kommissionens formand med det samme budskab. Det viser aktindsigter og anden research i projektet Foreverpollution.eu, et samarbejde mellem journalister i 16 lande, koordineret af den franske avis Le Monde. Lægemiddelbranchens aktivitet er et eksempel på de omfattende forsøg på at påvirke EU-lovgivningen allerede inden den politiske proces er gået i gang.

Investigations

Where European ships are recycled: Asian workers pay the ultimate price

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Asian workers remove asbestos from ships Photo: Adam Cohn. Nine out of ten European ships end their lives on Southeast Asian tidal beaches recycled into scrap metals. Unprotected workers get poisoned and killed despite regulations supposed to protect life and environment. Three international conventions and one EU-law about recycling of ships aim to protect workers and nature. They don’t.

Investigations

The hidden threat: Asbestos fibres in our drinking water

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Design: Janni Kristensen/TV2 Nord

Although asbestos is now banned in 69 countries, it still lurks in our buildings, our landfills – and our water pipes. There is general acceptance that inhalation can be lethal; now scientists and campaigners are voicing increasing dismay about the potential risks of ingestion – swallowing the fibres. This experts fear would be part of a fourth wave of risks following the risks for miners, for manufacturing workers, and for construction workers and their families. Asbeter founder and CEO, Dr Inez Postema and Cornelis van der Burg, head of R&D, Asbeter, on a visit to Asbeter, Rotterdam. Photo: Katharine Quarmby

Take aways:

Water pipes made of asbestos cement release fibres that are lethal when inhaled.

Investigations

Team-members in investigation in asbestos in the environment

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Edoardo Anziano (1999) is a freelance journalist and investigative reporter for IrpiMedia and Scomodo, the biggest under-25 Italian newspaper. He graduated in Philosophy at the University of Bologna. He’s now pursuing his MA in Journalism, Media and Globalisation at Aarhus University, Denmark and University of Amsterdam. He is registered as a professional journalist in Italy.  

Jenni Elisabeth Christensen is an editor at the Danish regional media TV2 Nord which covers the northern part of Jutland. She is responsible for the daily news planning and production, and for the cooperation with TV2 Denmark.

Investigations

Team-members in After the Floods

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Staffan Dahllöf, Denmark, Investigative Reporting Denmark, is a freelance journalist working as a correspondent to Swedish media on Danish issues and to Scandinavian media on European affaires. He also teaches EU-reporting and takes an interest in transparency issues as a former co-editor of the Pan-European website wobbing.eu on journalism and access to information. Staffan Dahllöf is a senior correspondent at Investigative Reporting Denmark.  
 
 

Nils Mulvad, Denmark, Investigative Reporting Denmark, is co-founder of the Global Network for Investigative Journalism and other international networks such as Farmsbusidy.org. He was CEO for the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting 2001-2006.

Investigations

Team-members in asbestos-investigation in ships

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Mašenjka Bačić has been a  journalist since 2007. Now she is working for Croatian investigative portal Oštro. She has collaborated with commercial, nonprofit, and public media outlets in Croatia and abroad. Her articles have been published on Balkan Insight, Euronews and The Guardian. She is coauthor of the book Gazda: Početak about privatization in Croatia after the fall of Yugoslavia.

Investigations

EU to cut down asbestos exposure for workers to Dutch level

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New EU-rules on asbestos are seen as a victory by members of the European Parliament who have demanded a general overhaul of EU’s asbestos policies. The occupational exposure limit will be set 10 times lower than today from 0.1 to 0.01 fibres per cm3 without a transition period. After maximum six years the limit will be further decreased to 0.002 fibres per cm3. This is in line with the existing limit in the Netherlands, the lowest in the EU, and close to the limit of 0.001 fibres demanded by Parliament. “This is a major step forward in the fight against this leading cause of occupational cancer,” MEP and rapporteur Veronique Trillet-Lenoir, (Renew Europe) said, after an agreement had been made with Council Tuesday afternoon.

Investigations

How many people die from exposure to asbestos in Denmark – experts raise doubts on the number 1300

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An expert from the Danish Cancer Society, Kræftens Bekæmpelse, expresses doubt on the number of asbestos deaths in Denmark of 1300 annually, mentioned in the stories in the project Asbestos: The Lethal Legacy. Johnni Hansen, The Danish Cancer Society: “Asbestos-related deaths are around 300 annually in Denmark.” “I think the number of asbestos related  cancer deaths nowadays in Denmark is lower, perhaps in the range of 300 annually,” says senior scientist, Ph. D. Johnni Hansen, Danish Cancer Society. His main argument for this is that he finds the methods for calculation of the 1300 yearly asbestos related deaths to be outdated.