Covering Climate Now was launched in 2019 with the express intent of breaking the “climate silence” that prevailed in most news media. And for a few important years, that silence was broken. Now, much of the media has gone, if not silent, certainly quiet. Climate coverage declined globally in 2025 by 14% compared to 2024. In the US, ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News reduced the airtime devoted to climate change by 35%.
To understand this retreat from climate coverage and how it might be remedied, CCNow’s executive director Mark Hertsgaard held conversations in early 2026 with more than 30 climate journalists at leading TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, and digital news outlets in Asia, North and South America, Europe, and Africa.
Those conversations, along with CCNow’s years of work with journalists and news outlets around the world, inform a white paper that CCNow is releasing today. The Nation, one of CCNow’s co-founding organizations, is publishing the paper as well. Kyle Pope, CCNow’s co-founder and executive director of strategic initiatives, is discussing the paper in Chicago today at the Society for Environmental Journalists’ annual conference, joined by Aparna Mukherjee, SEJ’s executive director; Mark Hertsgaard, CCNow’s executive director; and Rachel Ramirez, independent journalist for The Confluence.
Among the white paper’s findings:
- One reason for the decline in coverage has been a relentless firehose of news on other topics that audiences understandably want to know about (e.g., the Iran war); news outlets can produce only so many stories a day, and audiences have only so much time to read or watch the news
- Another reason: newsroom staff cuts, due to fewer consumers paying for news and corporate owners prioritizing profits over the public’s right to know
- News coverage often mirrors what political leaders talk about, and US president Donald Trump in particular talks little about climate change except to deny it’s happening. That denial has emboldened others — in business, in politics, and in media — to downplay the climate threat
- There are important exceptions to the trend. The Guardian, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and Telemundo, among others, continue to cover the climate story robustly. Every television station in Japan over the next two years will run public service commercials noting that 89% of Japanese people support taking climate action. And journalists across the Global South generally continue to see climate change as a major story
- Despite the backsliding, internal audience data at newsrooms indicate that the public remains interested in the climate story and that audiences respond when journalists tell the story well
- What’s needed is fresh thinking from journalists about how to tell the climate story, and a commitment from top management that climate coverage matters
- Many journalists do understand that the world faces a climate emergency (that’s the word thousands of scientists deliberately choose), and they’re committed to telling the story. Some of them labor for news organizations that may or may not be doing justice to the climate story; others have struck out on their own to say what needs to be said.
CCNow hopes this white paper triggers thought and discussion within the news business and beyond about how to give the climate story the coverage it deserves. Please send us your comments and suggestions via editors@coveringclimatenow.org.
From Us
RSVP: Live from SEJ: The State of Climate Journalism. Join us TODAY, April 16, at 12pm US Eastern Time (11am US Central Time, 16:00h UTC), for a live broadcast from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference in Chicago. We’ll dig into CCNow’s new white paper about the state of climate journalism. Learn more and RSVP.
SEJ happy hour! CCNow and Sentient are co-hosting a happy hour on Friday, April 17, from 5:45–8pm, at Vintage Bar, one block from the conference venue. Join us!
We’re hiring! CCNow is hiring a part-time communications manager (remote). Learn more and apply.
Radar Clima: cómo cubrir el fracking. México ha sido noticia después de que Claudia Sheinbaum propusiese usar esta técnica para reducir la dependencia del gas de Estados Unidos. En la última edición de Radar Clima, nuestro boletín en español para periodistas, te traemos datos clave, recursos, contactos de voces expertas y ángulos de cobertura para reportear esta historia en América Latina y España. Échale un vistazo a las ediciones anteriores y suscríbete para recibir el boletín los miércoles.
WATCH: 2026’s “Super El Niño” and Its Potential Global Impacts. Last week, CCNow and Climate Central explored the science behind the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and how this supercharged climate pattern may push global temperatures up later this year. Watch the recording.
Noteworthy Stories
‘Demand destruction.’ Since the start of the Iran War, global oil demand has plummeted at a rate “almost unprecedented in its speed and severity.” A new International Energy Agency report projects that, for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis (excluding the pandemic), demand for oil in 2026 will decline. By Verity Ratcliffe at the Financial Times…
Gridlock buster? High-level representatives from at least 50 countries and the EU will gather from April 24–29 for a first-of-its-kind conference in Santa Marta, Colombia to kickstart a unified effort to transition their economies away from fossil fuels. The biggest emitters — US, China, Russia, and India — are not attending, leading some to wonder whether these “middle power” countries will be able to make meaningful progress. By Nina Lakhani for Drilled…
Climate tipping points. While banks regularly consider climate risks in their future projections, J.P. Morgan is one of the first to include assessments of climate tipping points in its financial planning. By Justin Worland for TIME magazine…
California’s ‘climateflation.’ A new report finds that more destructive and frequent wildfires are driving up electricity and home insurance bills for Californians. Without action from state government officials to lower rates and stabilize markets, the report authors warn that costs for consumers “will inexorably rise.” By Todd Woody for Bloomberg Green…
Atlantic current. The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, which is critical to Earth’s climate system, is at a higher chance of collapse than scientists previously thought, according to new research led by Dr. Valentin Portmann of France’s Inria Centre de recherche Bordeaux Sud-Ouest. By Damian Carrington for The Guardian…
On the Beat
Conflict of interest? Journalist Lauren Watson interviewed Boston University professor Michelle Amazeen about her recent analysis of Iran war media coverage published by Climate Action Against Disinformation. The war is “our latest reminder of the importance of independent, skeptical coverage of energy policy,” she wrote, “and it makes the commercial ties between newsrooms and fossil-fuel advertisers an urgent public concern.” Read the interview in Columbia Journalism Review.
Quote of the Week
“The world has just been traumatized by the geopolitical risk of oil and gas. It creates renewed momentum for countries to try to electrify what they can and reduce gas demand to the extent possible.”
– Jason Bordoff, director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told The Washington Post
Resources
Growing concern. Ahead of Earth Day, Gallup released its annual poll regarding climate change concern in the US. Forty-four percent of Americans say they are very worried about climate change — among the highest levels since 1989 — and 63% believe the government is not taking enough environmental action, the highest since Gallup started polling the question in 1992. Views, however, are sharply polarized — only 28% of Republicans attribute global warming to human activity, down from 52% in 2001. Read the report.
Disaster database. Climate Central maintains a database of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that includes maps of previous disasters, areas at risk, details about specific events, and more. Between 1980 and 2026, there have been 431 billion-dollar events that have cost $3.1 trillion and killed 17,370 people.
Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. High Country News is hiring a Partnerships Editor (remote, western US states). The Raleigh News & Observer is looking for a Reporter to cover climate change and environmental issues (Raleigh, N.C.). McClatchy Media is hiring a Meteorologist (Sacramento, Calf.) Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk is looking for an Assistant Editorial Director (Columbia, Mo.). Climate Central is hiring a Vice President for Business Development (primarily remote). CNN is hiring several weather-related positions, including Senior Editor (Features), a Digital Meteorologist, Weekends, and a Weekend Editor (hybrid; multiple locations). Nexstar Media Group is hiring a Morning Meteorologist (Colorado Springs, Colo.). MPR News is hiring a Chief Meteorologist (Saint Paul, Minn.). The Freedom of the Press Foundation is hiring an Audience Editor (Brooklyn, N.Y. or remote).
Fellowships. Quanta Magazine is looking for an early-career science journalist for its summer/fall 2026 writing fellowship. Solutions Journalism Network is accepting applications for the second cohort of its Solutions Visuals fellowship; apply by April 24. The Chips Quinn Reporter Fellowship is accepting applications; apply between April 13 and May 13.
Workshop. The Pulitzer Center is accepting applications for its six-week virtual workshop to help climate-focused reporters with little or no video experience turn their reporting into engaging content for TikTok, Instagram, and/or YouTube Shorts; apply by April 24.
Grants. The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism is accepting applications for its 2026 National Fellowship and accompanying grants; apply by April 16. Earth Journalism Network is accepting grant proposals from journalists in Ghana, Mexico, the Philippines, and other coastal countries to report on marine conservation targets; apply by April 21.
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Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.