Prosecution of Ammonia Emissions from Livestock

It’s a climate crisis. The omni-directional and accelerating climate catastrophe poses new challenges for journalism. In France, since the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) was held in Paris in 2015, reports on the climate crisis have steadily increased. Last year, there was another opportunity to change the status of the report on the climate crisis. The ‘Climate Act’, which mandated carbon reduction in each sector of society, was passed by the French Parliament. Citizens’ demands for reporting on the climate crisis have risen noticeably, and mainstream media have reorganized their newsrooms and strengthened their reporting. Solution journalism and participatory journalism emerged as a hot topic. In September of this year, for the first time in France, the ‘Journalism Charter for Response to the Environment and Climate Crisis’ was created with the voluntary participation of journalists. 〈EPN〉 is a French non-profit environmental media magazine 〈Reporterre〉, Brittany environmental exploration media 〈Splann!〉, and an eco-climate magazine for young people, 〈We demain 100% Addo〉. ado)” was covered locally. On December 6th, the 6th 〈EPN〉 Journalism Conference (sjc.EPN.co.kr) will be held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul with the theme of ‘The Role of the Media in the Era of Climate Crisis’. In December 2019, more than 100 environmental activists hold a portrait of President Macron at the Trocadero Square in Paris, France, and urge the government to respond to the climate crisis. ⓒAP Photo Brittany is a province with the most distinct identity in France. Bretons, with a population of 3.3 million, are called ‘Bretons’. This word also refers to their language, Breton. Brittany is the only bilingual province in France, and in order to protect Breton, which has been designated as an endangered language by UNESCO, some cities provide subsidies for broadcast productions or cultural gatherings using Breton. Brittany even has its own regional flag named ‘Gwenhadu’. Is that so? This is where the proud Bretons live, the region with the highest newspaper subscription rate in France and the region where the local media is most active and active. On October 7, I took the high-speed train TGV and arrived at the small town of Guinne in Brittany, three hours from Paris. In the morning, the vacant lot around the government office was crowded. A Marche (market) full of vegetables and fruits that were not wrapped in plastic was opening. An old woman with gray hair came up to her and handed her a flyer. It was about announcing the ‘protest demanding measures against inflation and the climate crisis’ to be held at the Place de la Nacion in Paris ten days later. He said he would take a bus to Paris with the locals to join the rally. There is a joke that ‘Bretagne farmers feed one in three French’. The French dining table is connected to the Brittany region. According to data from the Bretagne Chamber of Agriculture published in 2021, 57% of all poultry in France, 52% of dairy products, 75% of pork and 42% of beef cattle are produced here. The fertile land and nature surrounded by the sea on three sides is the pride and pride of the region of Brittany. Due to the nature of Brittany, where there are many workers in the agricultural and livestock industry, local residents are very interested in the climate crisis and the environment and ecology. You can feel this by looking at the stalls selling magazines and newspapers. The front page article of L’Echo, a Brittany regional press headquartered in Guingang, was titled ‘Will there be a shortage of drinking water?’ It was stated that the prolonged drought caused by the climate crisis could reduce the water storage in the dams near the Ganging River and create friction between the supply of drinking water and agricultural water. As I turned the first page, a photo of journalist Inez Lero caught my eye. It was news that his book, Green Algae, Forbidden Stories, published in 2019, was being adapted into a movie and being filmed. Inez Lero is one of Brittany’s most famous journalists. After moving to Brittany in 2018, he followed and reported on the pesticide poisoning problems experienced by workers of agricultural cooperatives in the region. He said that the lack of public monitoring of pesticide use by farms was polluting the environment and exposing workers to diseases. Inez Lero has been more active in digging into the health damage problem caused by environmental pollution. That’s how Green Algae, a Forbidden Story began. Livestock manure from pig farms has created huge bands of algae on the coast of Brittany. As algae decay, they emit toxic gases, and as a result, local residents died or became ill for decades from the 1980s to the present. His comic strips dealing with this case were bundled into books. Although he was interested enough to sell 50,000 copies, he faced anonymous threats and several lawsuits. The pressure of the agricultural industry and the silence of public institutions against journalists who denounced the truth shook the civil society of Brittany. In May 2020, more than 350 journalists issued a petition in support of Inez Lero. Citizens also joined. This incident also led to a collective struggle to demand ‘provide information on the agro-food sector and guarantee freedom of the press’ from the local administration. But threats to journalists continued. The following year, while investigating the details of state subsidies to agricultural and food companies, Morgan Larzu, a journalist for Radio Kreiz Breizh, a Brittany local broadcaster, found out that someone had removed the nuts from the rear wheel of his car. The continuous intimidation of agricultural lobby groups has reached a level that threatens the lives of journalists. Reporters Without Borders also submitted a complaint to the law enforcement authorities, requesting a thorough investigation into the incident and the deployment of police for safety. Due to the successive incidents, lobbying in the agricultural and livestock industry, which has been prevalent in the Brittany region, and political and economic ties, resulting in environmental destruction and human rights violations, have been re-examined. Citizens wanted more transparent and clear information. In September 2020, Ignès Lero and a dozen young freelance journalists were interviewed by the Brittany investigative press ‘Splan! (Splann!)> was founded. ‘Splan’ is not French. Breton means ‘clear’. All articles in Splane! are available in two languages: French and Breton. They promised citizens that they would maintain editorial autonomy without receiving corporate sponsorship, subsidies from local governments, or advertisements. 1756 citizens of Brittany donated 94,000 euros (about 130 million won) to see the article in Splan! The first article of , ‘Bretagne breathes ammonia air’, was published in June 2021. The health and livelihood of residents are threatened by ammonia emitted by large-scale livestock farms, but public institutions were neglecting them for budget reasons. Residents and farmworkers have long been suffering from “stinging smells, making it difficult to breathe and stinging throat, eyes and nose like allergy symptoms,” but none of the media paid attention to it. An article titled ‘The Pig Farm in Rangdengves’ published in July of this year became a catalyst for civic protests. The article exposed the corruption of a pig association executive who tried to expand his pig farm by colluding with a local environmental inspector. The administrative court has approved a plan to expand a mega farm that will raise 27,000 pigs a year just 300 meters away from residents’ living areas such as schools, housing complexes, and organic farmland. If you look at the farm extension approval document published by Splan!, the site did not even have a proper environmental purification system for wastewater discharge, air and soil pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. On August 27, a month after this article was published, about 450 citizens gathered in Rangdengves, where the farm is located, and put on black boots and held a ‘funeral protest’. In an effort to reverse public opinion, the pig association also held an anti-protest, and the two sides sharply faced each other. However, the administrative court decided to review whether to approve the extension of the pig farm. Currently, the citizens and Splan! are awaiting that decision. “Ah, reporters.” has no full-time reporters. All reporters, translators and designers, including five editors, are volunteers. There is no editorial office. The place where I met the editors Gwbael Delanoé, Juliet Cavasorozé and Sylvain Ernot was an empty office in the ‘Guangang Vocational Training Center’. However, receives more reports than any other local media outlet, and is building trust with readers. I asked three editors. Editor-in-chief of . From left: Gbael Delanoé, Juliet Cavasorozé, and Sylvain Ernot. ⓒEPN Kim Da-eun How does work? Delanoe: Currently, the total number of members is about 30, but there are 10 to 15 active members, including five editors. One or two reporters are assigned to one investigative report, and the coverage continues for as little as two months and as long as six months. Erno: The operating budget of 〈Splan!〉 is made up of almost 100% donations from readers. Partnerships with other media outlets are also profitable. For the first time as an online media, partnerships were established not only with established media such as and , but also with broadcasters such as ‘Radio Kreiz Breizh’ and ‘France 3’. tied Conducts investigative reporting that uncovers environmental corruption in the region. Where do you find clues? Cavasorose: Various indicators and reports on environment and ecology are published by the government, environmental groups, and companies. But most people don’t look at the report. Not only citizens, but also experts and politicians. We keep looking for and reading these materials that no one cares about, including those that are open sourced as open source. Reading, repeating, and learning this material gives you a sense of discovering the hidden problems between the numbers. Erno: When I was preparing the article on ‘The Pig Farm in Landunvez’, I researched the pig farm in the beginning, and something was strange. When constructing or extending a farm, very strict conditions must be met, from excretion of manure, odor, acidification of soil, and countermeasures against water pollution. However, when I looked at the data of the relevant ministries and found the actual site, all the contents were false. In the process, I was able to hear various stories from local residents who were actually harmed to testimonies and hidden corruption about the farm. Citizen feedback was very important. Why do people report to the fledgling press Splan! Cavasorose: There is only one reason. Because it is the media that fills them with what they want. Citizens are realizing that giant corporations are destroying the environment, but they have not been able to obtain reliable information. We are often invited to local events and programs, and many citizens approach us first. “Ah, you are the reporters of Splan!” he says. They firmly believe that we will tell you what they have been through, what their neighbors and their families have been through. Upholding that belief is our role as a local media and addressing environmental and ecological issues. What is the goal of ? Delanoé: To become a press that gives citizens the power to act. We don’t have to tell our readers to ‘do this’. Citizens act when the truth of injustice is revealed and when they learn that it threatens democracy. When citizens move, governments and businesses must move. Change starts with citizens. Citizens are angry at the fact that the survival of the socially weak is threatened because the scarce value of the environment is not distributed democratically. Erno: We are not trying to confine us to the ‘environmental/ecological coverage’. As the climate crisis accelerates, the anxiety and dangers in life that we must deal with are inevitably linked to environmental and ecological problems. Rather than trying to write a ‘good environmental article’, just write a ‘good article’.

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