The contest kicks off on World Environment Day (5 June) and the winners will be announced on the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies (7 September).

The climate emergency that humanity faces today and the loss of biodiversity requires adequate and immediate action. Climate change is currently one of the most widespread and threatening crises, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the most pressing challenge of our time. Climate change threatens our existence, so it is necessary to urgently prioritize attention and take action, especially since solutions exist and are available. In particular, it is urgent to reduce the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. Efforts to combat climate change, whether undertaken by countries, companies or citizens, can benefit not only our planet, but also the health and well-being of people. Climate action is necessary to build the world we all want to see after the COVID-19 pandemic.

How does climate change and biodiversity loss affect Kazakhstan, and what does it mean for our health, economy, food supply and for the whole nature that we live on? What options are there for climate change adaptation or mitigation in Kazakhstan?

UNDP Kazakhstan offers journalists and bloggers from Kazakhstan the opportunity to demonstrate their skills for the benefit of environment protection and win valuable prizes.

Our mission is to raise awareness of climate change so that it becomes a public issue, inspiring and motivating people to find solutions.

Conditions:

1. Journalists and bloggers are invited to participate in the contest by submitting an article of up to 800 words to print and electronic media in Kazakhstan that will raise awareness of the threat posed by climate change and loss of biodiversity to Kazakhstan, and will propose potential solutions to mitigate or adapt to the effects of climate change.

2. The article must be an evidence-based piece published in print and/or online media, a newsletter, a website or a blog. The article can be written in Kazakh, Russian or English.

3. A jury of UNDP staff and partners will evaluate the articles according to the following criteria:

• The creative approach and originality of the presentation of the material chosen to tell the story;

• The level of research conducted to prepare the article;

• The extent to which the article can inspire or motivate government officials/entrepreneurs/civil society/individuals to take action to combat climate change.

4. The winners that came first, second and third will receive valuable prizes in each of the thematic areas (climate and biodiversity). Based on the contest results, all three winners will receive a certificate on behalf of UNDP Kazakhstan.

5. Authors of all submitted articles retain the rights to their work. By submitting their articles, authors grant UNDP the right to use them for non-commercial purposes, always crediting the authors and the media outlet. Any commercial use of materials by UNDP will require the consent of the author and the media outlet.

6. Authors are encouraged to include photographs with their articles, but must ensure that they have the rights to use the photographs. Authors may choose to share a portion of their prize with other colleagues who contributed to the article (research, photographs etc.). UNDP will award only one prize per article, which will be determined by the winner of the contest, regardless of how many people contributed to it.

7. The contest invites participants who are at least 18 years old and reside in Kazakhstan. Those who reside in other countries may also participate in the contest, but are not eligible for prizes and the mentioned certificates. UNDP staff, consultants and interns may participate in the contest, but are not eligible for prizes. Any participant who is not eligible for a prize, but whose article is selected by the jury, will still receive a certificate on behalf of UNDP Kazakhstan. Materials are accepted in Kazakh, Russian and English. Knowledge of English by participants is encouraged.

8. Only individuals are eligible to participate in the contest. Participants must be the author and copyright holder of the works submitted on their behalf. The material must be an original work and not a translation or adaptation of another author 's work. Each candidate may submit as many works as they wish.

9. Applications must be submitted in PDF and Word format and sent to climate.challenge.kz@gmail.com and will be accepted from June 5 (World Environment Day) until midnight Astana time on July 31, 2025.

10. In addition to the article file, the material must be accompanied by a Word or PDF document for each article with the author's full name, citizenship, city of residence in Kazakhstan, title, media outlet or blog, link to the published article on the Internet and a brief description (no more than 150 words) of what inspired them to write the article. The document must also have the names of people who collaborated with the author in creating the article (photographer, co-author, researcher etc.). If the article is selected, then, as already mentioned, only the main author will receive the prize, and it is he/she who has the right to decide how the prize will be divided among the team members.

11. UNDP Kazakhstan will announce the winners on the UNDP website and social media and may feature a selection of submitted articles on its social media channels starting from 7 September.