ClimUp Terms and Conditions

Welcome to ClimUp.

These Terms and Conditions govern your access to and use of the ClimUp mobile application, website, courses, learning tools, resources, programs, and related services.

ClimUp is operated by Climate Tracker Asia, Inc., referred to in these Terms as “ClimUp,” “Climate Tracker Asia,” “we,” “us,” or “our.”

By creating an account, accessing a course, joining a ClimUp program, or otherwise using ClimUp, you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use ClimUp.

1. About ClimUp

ClimUp is a climate journalism and storytelling learning platform designed for journalists, student journalists, content creators, communicators, educators, and other learners.

Depending on availability, ClimUp may provide:

• Courses, quizzes, exercises, and learning resources
• Story discovery and development tools
• Learning progress, points, badges, and certificates
• Programs, fellowships, events, and institutional cohorts
• Opportunities to interact with trainers, editors, mentors, or subject-matter experts
• Other climate journalism and storytelling features

Some features may be experimental, available only to selected users, or changed as ClimUp develops.

2. Eligibility and Young Users

You must be at least 13 years old to create an individual ClimUp account.

If you are below 18 years old, you should use ClimUp with the knowledge and permission of your parent or legal guardian, or through a school, organization, or authorized ClimUp program.

Certain activities may require separate permission from a parent, guardian, school, or program organizer. These may include:

• Publicly displaying a user’s name, photograph, work, or testimonial
• Recording a live session
• Joining a mentoring activity
• Participating in an event or program outside the application
• Purchasing a paid service

ClimUp may restrict or close an account if we reasonably believe that the user does not meet the applicable age or consent requirements.

3. Creating and Protecting Your Account

You agree to provide accurate and reasonably current information when creating or updating your account.

You are responsible for:

• Keeping your password and login information confidential
• Using your own account
• Activities performed through your account
• Informing us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access

You may not sell, transfer, lend, or share your account with another person.

We may require you to verify your email address, identity, age, affiliation, or eligibility for a particular program.

4. Permission to Use ClimUp

Subject to these Terms, ClimUp gives you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and revocable right to access and use the platform for lawful educational, editorial, and professional-development purposes.

This permission does not give you ownership of ClimUp, its software, branding, courses, questions, learning design, or other materials.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree to use ClimUp lawfully, responsibly, and respectfully.

You may not:

• Harass, threaten, bully, exploit, or discriminate against another person
• Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation
• Upload content that is unlawful, abusive, defamatory, fraudulent, or deliberately misleading
• Reveal confidential sources or another person’s private information without authorization
• Upload documents, photographs, recordings, or other materials that you do not have the right to use
• Introduce viruses, malware, harmful code, or other material intended to disrupt the platform
• Attempt to access another user’s account or restricted parts of ClimUp
• Scrape, copy, extract, or collect user or platform data through automated means without written permission
• Reverse-engineer, modify, or interfere with ClimUp’s software or security systems
• Use ClimUp to distribute spam, scams, unauthorized advertising, or coordinated manipulation
• Falsify quiz results, learning progress, badges, certificates, or program participation
• Copy or commercially redistribute ClimUp’s courses or materials without permission
• Use ClimUp in a way that places users, mentors, sources, partners, or the platform at risk

We may investigate suspected misuse and take appropriate action, including removing content or restricting an account.

6. Your Content

“Your Content” means story ideas, pitches, drafts, reflections, answers, photographs, recordings, comments, documents, and other material you submit to ClimUp.

You retain ownership of original content that you create.

By submitting content, you give ClimUp a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, process, reproduce, and display that content only as reasonably necessary to:

• Operate ClimUp
• Save and display your work
• Provide learning activities or feedback
• Administer a course, program, event, or fellowship
• Address technical, legal, safety, or security concerns
• Deliver a service you requested

This license ends when your content is deleted from our active systems, except where limited retention is reasonably necessary for backups, legal obligations, security, dispute resolution, or program records.

When you deliberately submit work for publication, a public showcase, competition, campaign, testimonial, or promotional feature, we may request separate permission describing how the work will be used.

You confirm that you own your submitted content or have the necessary rights and permission to submit it.

7. Protecting Sources and Sensitive Information

ClimUp is a learning platform and should not be treated as a secure repository for highly confidential reporting material.

Do not enter or upload:

• Confidential source identities
• Passwords or access credentials
• Bank, payment-card, or financial information
• Precise home addresses
• Medical records
• Government identification numbers
• Information that could expose someone to retaliation, harassment, arrest, or physical harm

You remain responsible for applying appropriate journalistic, legal, ethical, and digital-security practices to your reporting.

8. ClimUp Content and Intellectual Property

ClimUp and its original materials are owned by or licensed to Climate Tracker Asia.

These materials may include:

• The ClimUp name, logo, design, and branding
• Software, platform features, and databases
• Courses, modules, quizzes, and question banks
• Story cards, prompts, templates, and exercises
• Videos, illustrations, graphics, photographs, and written resources
• Learning structures, badges, and certificate designs

You may access and use these materials for your own learning and professional development.

Unless we give written permission, you may not:

• Sell, sublicense, or commercially exploit ClimUp materials
• Republish complete courses or question banks
• Use the materials to create or operate a competing training product
• Remove copyright, attribution, or ownership notices
• Claim ClimUp materials as your own

You may quote or share limited portions for legitimate educational or journalistic purposes when permitted by law and accompanied by appropriate attribution.

9. Third-Party Materials

ClimUp may include links to articles, reports, videos, datasets, websites, or other resources created by third parties.

These materials remain the property of their respective owners and may be subject to separate terms or licenses.

A link or reference does not necessarily mean that ClimUp endorses every view, claim, product, or service found on the external platform.

We do not control and are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, security, or privacy practices of third-party services.

10. Educational and Editorial Disclaimer

ClimUp provides educational information, exercises, and editorial-development tools.

ClimUp does not guarantee:

• Publication of a story or pitch
• Employment, commissions, grants, fellowships, or awards
• Admission to a program or opportunity
• Improved scores, professional success, or income
• Access to a particular editor, mentor, trainer, or expert
• That every resource, suggestion, answer, or explanation will be complete or error-free

Any feedback or suggestion provided through ClimUp should be independently evaluated.

You remain responsible for:

• Fact-checking and verification
• Source protection and informed consent
• Copyright and permissions
• Reporting safety and risk assessment
• Compliance with applicable laws
• Compliance with your newsroom, school, or organization’s rules
• Decisions made using information obtained through ClimUp

ClimUp does not provide legal, medical, financial, scientific, or security advice.

11. Quizzes, Badges, and Certificates

Quiz scores, points, badges, certificates, and progress records reflect participation or completion within ClimUp.

They are not academic degrees, government qualifications, professional licenses, or guarantees of competency unless expressly stated otherwise.

We may correct or withdraw a score, badge, certificate, or progress record if it was:

• Issued by mistake
• Obtained through cheating, account sharing, manipulation, or fraud
• Connected to an incomplete or invalid activity
• Misrepresented by the user

You may not alter or falsely present a ClimUp certificate or credential.

12. Programs, Cohorts, Mentors, and Events

Additional rules may apply to a ClimUp fellowship, course, cohort, mentoring session, competition, or event.

When additional rules apply, they will be communicated before or during registration. By joining the activity, you also agree to those program-specific rules.

Mentors, trainers, editors, speakers, and experts may express their own professional views. Their statements do not necessarily represent Climate Tracker Asia.

You may not record, publish, quote, or distribute a private session without the informed permission of the people involved.

We may reschedule, modify, replace, or cancel a session, mentor, activity, or event because of availability, safety concerns, technical problems, funding limitations, or circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

13. Institutional and Sponsored Access

A school, newsroom, nonprofit organization, funder, employer, or other partner may provide or sponsor your access to ClimUp.

Your access may be subject to:

• The duration of the partnership or program
• Eligibility and attendance requirements
• Available licenses or account limits
• Additional program rules
• Reporting requirements explained before participation

The sponsoring organization does not own your individual account or original work solely because it sponsored your access.

Information shared with sponsoring organizations is governed by the ClimUp Privacy Policy and any specific program notice provided to you.

14. Paid Services

ClimUp may introduce paid courses, subscriptions, expert sessions, institutional licenses, or other paid services.

Before you make a purchase, we will disclose the applicable:

• Price and currency
• Service or feature included
• Billing period
• Renewal arrangement
• Cancellation procedure
• Refund conditions
• Applicable taxes or fees

Additional purchase terms may apply and will be presented before payment.

Payments may be processed by an app store or third-party payment provider. Their terms and refund procedures may also apply.

Nothing in these Terms removes consumer rights that cannot lawfully be waived.

15. Privacy

Our collection and processing of personal information are described in the ClimUp Privacy Policy, available at: https://climatetracker.asia/climup-privacy-policy

By using ClimUp, you acknowledge that you have been given access to the Privacy Policy.

Privacy consent, when legally required, will be requested separately and will not be treated as automatically granted merely because you accepted these Terms.

16. Platform Availability and Changes

We work to keep ClimUp available, functional, and secure, but we cannot guarantee uninterrupted or error-free access.

ClimUp may be temporarily unavailable because of:

• Maintenance or updates
• Internet or service-provider outages
• Device compatibility issues
• Security incidents
• Technical errors
• Events beyond our reasonable control

We may add, change, test, restrict, suspend, or discontinue features as ClimUp develops.

Where reasonably possible, we will give notice before making a significant change that materially affects active users.

17. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using ClimUp at any time.

You may request account deletion using the method described in the ClimUp Privacy Policy.

We may warn, restrict, suspend, or terminate an account when we reasonably believe that:

• These Terms were violated
• The account was created or used fraudulently
• The user created a privacy, safety, legal, or security risk
• Another person’s rights were infringed
• A certificate, badge, or program opportunity was misused
• Continued access could harm ClimUp, its users, partners, mentors, or staff
• We are legally required to do so

Where appropriate, we will provide notice and a reasonable opportunity to explain or appeal the decision.

Provisions concerning ownership, intellectual property, liability, disputes, and other matters that must logically continue will remain effective after an account is closed.

18. Disclaimer of Warranties

ClimUp is provided on an “as available” basis.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not guarantee that:

• ClimUp will always be available, secure, or free from errors
• Every course, resource, link, or feature will remain available
• Content will always be current, complete, or suitable for every user
• The platform will function on every device or internet connection
• Stored content will never be lost or damaged

Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties, protections, or rights that cannot legally be excluded.

19. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Climate Tracker Asia will not be responsible for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential losses arising from:

• Reliance on educational or editorial suggestions
• Editorial, academic, employment, or funding decisions made by third parties
• Loss of opportunities, income, reputation, or unpublished work
• Unauthorized account access caused by a user’s failure to protect login information
• Third-party websites, services, resources, or providers
• Temporary platform interruptions or technical problems
• Content or conduct of another user

This limitation does not apply where liability cannot lawfully be limited, including liability arising from fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or violations of non-waivable consumer or privacy rights.

20. Reporting Concerns

You may report misuse, harassment, intellectual-property concerns, account problems, or possible violations of these Terms by contacting: climup@climatetracker.org

Please provide enough information for us to understand and investigate the concern. We may request additional information or proof of identity where necessary.

21. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms when ClimUp’s features, programs, operations, or legal obligations change.

The updated Terms will be posted on this page with a revised “Last updated” date.

We will provide additional notice when a change materially affects users’ rights or responsibilities. Continued use after the updated Terms take effect means that you accept the revised Terms.

If you do not agree to a material change, you may stop using ClimUp and request deletion of your account.

22. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines.

Before starting formal proceedings, you and Climate Tracker Asia agree to make a reasonable effort to resolve the concern in good faith through written communication.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking urgent legal protection or filing a complaint with an appropriate court, regulator, or government authority.

Any unresolved dispute will be handled by the proper courts or authorities with jurisdiction under Philippine law.

23. General Provisions

If any part of these Terms is declared invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.

Our failure to enforce a provision immediately does not waive our right to enforce it later.

You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our written permission.

Climate Tracker Asia may transfer its rights and obligations as part of a lawful restructuring, merger, partnership, or transfer of ClimUp, subject to applicable privacy and consumer-protection requirements.

These Terms, together with the ClimUp Privacy Policy and any applicable program-specific rules, form the agreement governing your use of ClimUp.

24. Contact Us

For questions, concerns, or requests relating to these Terms, contact: