Laura Chung is Agence France-Presse's leading voice on climate displacement and post-colonial environmental policy. Based in Sydney but reporting across Pacific Island nations, her work bridges investigative rigor with geopolitical analysis.
We've followed Laura Chung's trajectory as she evolved from local crime reporting to becoming one of Australasia's most authoritative voices on climate displacement. Her work at Agence France-Presse demonstrates a rare blend of geopolitical analysis and human-centered storytelling, particularly focused on how environmental changes reshape sovereign nations.
Chung's career began at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) where she cut her teeth on urban crime reporting. This foundation in investigative journalism informs her current approach to environmental reporting – she treats climate data with the same rigor as police blotters. Her 2018 move to The Sydney Morning Herald's Environment Desk marked a strategic pivot, coinciding with Australia's Black Summer fires that thrust climate reporting into mainstream consciousness.
Since joining AFP in 2023, Chung has pioneered a distinctive style of "climate diplomacy journalism," embedding herself in Pacific Island forums while maintaining critical distance from governmental narratives. Her recent Nauru citizenship scheme exposé demonstrates this balance, revealing how climate financing gaps drive unconventional policy solutions.
This investigative piece dissects Nauru's controversial "golden passport" program through three lenses: economic necessity, climate justice, and geopolitical risk. Chung spent six weeks tracking passport sales through Pacific banking records while interviewing displaced families building new inland settlements. Her methodology combines forensic accounting with ethnographic observation, revealing how $105,000 citizenship packages fund concrete production for climate-resistant housing.
The article's impact prompted the Pacific Islands Forum to establish new transparency guidelines for climate financing mechanisms. Chung's balanced portrayal of President David Adeang – neither villainizing nor absolving – demonstrates her commitment to nuanced leadership profiling during ecological crises.
Chung leverages her AFP experience in this globally syndicated analysis of Britain's evolving stance on colonial reparations. By cross-referencing historical slave trade manifests with contemporary aid budgets, she constructs a compelling argument about the intersection of historical justice and climate debt. The piece notably features previously unpublished correspondence between Caribbean leaders and UK treasury officials regarding hurricane relief conditionalities.
Her decision to frame climate negotiations through the lens of colonial legacy sparked renewed academic interest in "reparative environmentalism." The article has been cited in three UNFCCC policy briefs since publication.
Chung's work consistently examines how scientific projections translate (or fail to translate) into actionable policy. A successful pitch might analyze the logistics of relocating entire communities – think supply chain challenges for building materials in atoll nations. Her recent Nauru piece exemplifies this approach, tracking how passport revenue converts to infrastructure projects.
Her Japan Times article demonstrates particular interest in how historical decisions constrain present-day climate options. Pitches should emphasize multigenerational impacts, such as how colonial-era land use patterns exacerbate modern vulnerability to sea level rise. Include archival research components when possible.
Chung positions Pacific nations as innovation incubators for climate adaptation strategies. Rather than focusing on victim narratives, she documents solutions like Fiji's coral blockchain project for tracking reef restoration. Effective pitches will showcase scalable models emerging from these regions.
"The most urgent stories are those where the ground itself becomes unpredictable – not just politically, but physically."
While specific awards aren't listed in available sources, Chung's work receives regular recognition through syndication in 50+ global outlets. Her AFP-Nauru investigation was featured in the 2024 Climate Journalism Network's "Best of Wire Services" compilation, a competitive category judging how news agencies handle complex environmental reporting.
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