Wazzup Pilipinas!?
When the doors of intergovernmental negotiations close, decisions are made that will define humanity’s future—on climate, health, biodiversity, and survival itself. These spaces—UN climate summits, biodiversity COPs, and the World Health Assembly—are where power collides with science, where compromise is often struck in language few outside the negotiation hall understand. Yet what happens inside must be brought out clearly, accurately, and urgently to the people most affected.
That responsibility now rests on a select group of journalists from across South and Southeast Asia, handpicked to join Workshop 3/2025: Planetary Health and Power – Covering the Intergovernmental Agenda, a two-day intensive training hosted by the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 3–4, 2025.
Wazzup Pilipinas founder, Ross Flores Del Rosario, is among the media from the Philippines who were selected to attend this workshop.
The workshop—organized in partnership with the Global Strategic Communications Council, Global Climate and Health Alliance, Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia, and Internews, with sponsorship from InTent—is part of an ambitious Capacity Development and Training Workshop Series for Media Professionals (2025–2027). Its mission is clear: equip journalists to decode the opaque world of intergovernmental negotiations and translate them into stories that inform, engage, and hold leaders accountable.
Why This Workshop Matters
Professor Jemilah Mahmood, Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, set the tone in her welcome note:
“This is more than a workshop—it’s an invitation to step inside the negotiation room, see how global systems really function, and bring those insights to the audiences who need them most.”
For too long, critical negotiations have been shielded by jargon, acronyms, and legalistic maneuvering that alienates the public. Journalists often struggle to penetrate these processes, leaving citizens disconnected from the very decisions that shape their lives—from financing climate resilience to protecting ecosystems, or regulating fossil fuels.
Workshop 3/2025 changes that. It is designed not as a lecture series, but as an immersive training: simulation exercises, insider briefings, and real-time analysis that reveal who holds influence, how narratives are shaped, and where the fault lines of global power run.
An Agenda Built on Power, Politics, and Storytelling
Across two packed days, participants will move from fundamentals to frontline practice.
Day One opens with framing sessions on planetary health and global governance, before plunging into the machinery of intergovernmental negotiations: “Behind the Acronyms,” “National Interests vs. Global Outcomes,” and “Power and Politics: Who Shapes the Narrative?” Veteran communicators like Shailendra Yashwant (CANSA) and policy experts from across Asia will guide discussions. The day culminates in a simulation exercise, throwing journalists directly into the dynamics of a mock negotiation.
Day Two shifts to forward-looking analysis: inside COP30 preparations, navigating processes from a Malaysian government perspective with MP Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad, and tackling climate narrative battles—greenwashing, disinformation, and fossil fuel spin—with experts from the Global Strategic Communications Council. Sessions on storytelling, remote coverage, and crafting impactful narratives aim to sharpen journalists’ tools. The workshop closes with another high-stakes simulation—“Navigating the Noise”—before reflections on how journalists can carry these lessons into their reporting.
Every element reinforces one central goal: to turn media professionals into translators of power—those who can cut through complexity and bring planetary health back to the people.
Beyond Training: Building a Regional Network
Participation does not end with the workshop. Attendees automatically become part of the Asia Pacific Planetary Health Media Professionals Network, a collaborative community coordinated by Sunway Centre for Planetary Health.
This network will provide:
A shared resource library of research, reports, and workshop materials.
A WhatsApp community for exchanging tips, story leads, and breaking insights.
Quarterly webinars and peer-to-peer virtual cafés for ongoing learning.
A mandate for accountability: each participant must publish one to two original stories within three months of completing the training.
The aim is not symbolic membership but active collaboration, transforming scattered voices into a collective media force for planetary health across Asia-Pacific.
A Gathering of Influential Voices
The speaker lineup reflects the gravity of the issues at hand. Among them:
Dr. Revati Phalkey, Director of UNU-IIGH, bridging science and policy.
Shreeshan Venkatesh, Global Policy Lead at Climate Action Network, with insider knowledge of COP dynamics.
Shweta Narayan, Campaign Lead at Global Climate and Health Alliance, championing climate justice.
Gunjan Jain of GSCC, an expert in narrative framing and climate communications.
Railla Puno of Jade Dialogues, bringing Philippine expertise in climate law and policy.
Jaya Shreedhar, health journalist and physician, leading media training for decades.
This intergenerational mix of scientists, policymakers, communicators, and journalists ensures a multi-lens exploration of planetary health and global decision-making.
The Human Element: Journalists on the Frontlines
The participant roster itself underscores the workshop’s significance: reporters from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines—all bringing stories from communities most vulnerable to planetary crises.
These are the five (5) Filipinos selected to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to attend the CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING WORKSHOP SERIES FOR MEDIA PROFESSIONALS.
1. Xer Jason Ocampo
Davao City, Philippines
Content Coordinator/Fact-Checker
MindaNews
2. Joshua Mendoza
Manila, Philippines
Reporter
Climate Tracker Asia
3. Ross Del Rosario
Rizal, Philippines
Editor in Chief
Wazzup Pilipinas
4. Rachel Ganancial
Quezon City, Philippines
Information Officer / Writer
Philippine Information Agency
5. Shaina Mariella Aguilar
Quezon City, Philippines
Writer/Program and Community Manager
FYT Media
The organizers have selected 30 media practitioners from different countries of Southeast Asia (India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and the Philippines).
The workshop is dubbed as Planetary Health and Power: Covering the Intergovernmental Agenda, a focused two-day training workshop hosted by the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University. This workshop is designed to strengthen our ability to report on the global policy processes that shape our environment, our health, and our future.
Their presence symbolizes a shift: climate and health reporting is no longer peripheral, but central to public interest journalism. These journalists will return home not only with sharper skills but with the collective responsibility to hold governments accountable to science, justice, and survival.
A Defining Moment for Planetary Journalism
As the world hurtles toward planetary tipping points, the need for clear, courageous, and impactful reporting has never been greater. Workshop 3/2025 is more than professional training—it is a strategic intervention in the information ecosystem.
By equipping journalists with the tools to expose power plays, debunk greenwashing, and amplify health and climate justice, it ensures that intergovernmental negotiations do not remain cloaked in mystery, but are laid bare for the publics whose futures are at stake.
In the words of the organizers:
“This is where planetary health meets power. And this is where journalism must rise to meet history.”
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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