The role of the news media in fighting the climate crisis

By Kyle Pope.

As awful as the climate headlines have been in 2026 – from melting glaciers to historic wildfires to deadly heatwaves – here’s a sobering fact: there is a very good chance this will be the coolest year of the rest of your life.

This year will be hotter than the last, and last year was hotter than the one before that. Scientists now say that next year, especially with the El Nino weather pattern taking shape, will obliterate records, sending the planet well above the levels experts have held out as the dangerous tipping points of the climate crisis.

Amid all of this, it can be difficult to know where to turn for help and for solutions: governments around the world – and especially in petro states like the United States – seem to be making things worse instead of better. Individual choices can seem trivial given the scale of the problem.

There is, it turns out, an often overlooked solution to the climate problem – and that is journalism. Understanding what is happening, what’s causing it, and who is at fault (and don’t be fooled, there definitely are villains in this story), is a necessary predicate to solving the climate problem. Tuning out doesn’t make science, and reality, go away.

Our nonprofit has spent the last seven years studying how media around the world covers climate change, and helping news outlets do a better job of connecting with their audience about  it. 

Here’s the good news: the audience is interested. 

Peer-reviewed studies show that, on average, 89 percent of people on earth not only care about the climate crisis, but they want their governments to work on fixing it. The problem is that many of those people don’t know they are part of an overwhelming climate majority; they think they’re siloed, on the sidelines. They also don’t know that their neighbors often think like they do and, most critically, they don’t vote like they’re part of the solution.

This is where journalism comes in. For the past two years, dozens of reporters from around the world have been working to tell the story of the 89 percent in their communities, profiling them and giving them a voice. And the world is taking notice: people have begun showing up on social media identifying themselves as part of the 89 percent, and in August,the global drinks company Oatly began featuring the 89 percent message on its cartons worldwide.

Journalism has the potential to help the public break through on climate change. By dismissing the narrative that people don’t care, and identifying what’s needed to urgently solve the problem – in the voting booth, on the streets, in people’s homes – news outlets have an opportunity, and duty, to join with their audiences to solve the most urgent issue of our lives. That connection will not only help address the climate problem, but it also will help close the trust gap plaguing journalism. People support news outlets that cover what they care about.

It won’t be easy, though. 

For decades, the fossil fuel industry – remember those villains we referenced earlier? – has been investing hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns intended to mislead the public about the dangers of burning fossil fuels. They have funded disinformation campaigns aimed at undercutting climate science and have sought to erode trust in journalism that is accurately covering the problem. 

The rise of social media has resulted in a targeted, coordinated effort to flood consumers with climate lies. A tiny minority of online trolls continues to scare some newsrooms away from being as aggressive in their climate coverage as the story demands.

Journalism has an opportunity to right this wrong – reporting factually and urgently on the crisis we face. And consumers – all 89 percent of us – can use this opportunity to rediscover the value of an independent press, and celebrate the people who are telling the truth about the crisis that is endangering us all.

Kyle Pope is the co-founder and executive director of strategic initiatives for Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of newsrooms committed to more and better climate coverage.