Event Joint Coverage Week April 8, 2021

Living Through The Climate Emergency

CCNow partners published, shared and amplified human-centered stories focused on how people and places experience the climate emergency and how they, and all of us, can survive it.

By Mekdela Maskal
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Past event: April 12, 2021 - April 22, 2021

Covering Climate Now’s extended joint coverage week, themed “Living Through the Climate Emergency,” was a powerful exercise in public spirited journalism. Even amid other urgent news events—namely, the trial of Derek Chauvin and a still lingering (in some locations, surging) pandemic—our partners showed audiences the human side of the climate emergency. The message—that climate change is already taking its toll but that we have the solutions to reverse humanity’s current destructive trend—rang loud and clear.

Throughout the week, partners big and small told powerful, human-centered stories, detailing how climate is intersecting with schools, transportation, healthcare, housing, homelessness, farming, food, migration, and just about every other aspect of social life. Stories detailed environmental devastation faced by Indigenous tribes in the US—and also the hope some tribes are finding by implementing climate solutions. They covered activists we know and others we might not, who continue to fight for a safer and more equal planet, even when confronted with extreme adversity. Collectively, the stories demonstrated what we say so often at CCNow: that climate change is a story for every beat in the newsroom.

We’re still gathering information and data on the coverage, but CCNow partners should feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. We’re impressed by the range of stories our partners executed and grateful for the leadership they demonstrated. We’ll be out soon with a full report, but for now, on our website, we highlight a few of the pieces we loved from the week. For many more, be sure to check the hashtag #ClimateEmergencyWeek, which partners, journalists, and audience members used throughout the coverage period to share content and engage in conversation.

In the coming weeks, expect this newsletter to return to our usual programming, including media analysis, round-ups of the latest and greatest coverage, and industry developments, including climate-focused jobs and events.

**To our partners, especially: please remember that CCNow is more than just these special coverage weeks. CCNow is active year-round, helping journalists boost their coverage of the climate story. Keep an eye out for our media analysis, reporting resources, and signature “Talking Shop” events. Also, consider joining our Slack workspace, where journalists are chatting, brainstorming, collaborating, and more; to join, send an email to our engagement editor, Mekdela Maskal: mekdela@coveringclimatenow.org.**

NEW AND RECENT FROM CCNOW:

Climate Emergency Statement. To kick off the joint coverage event, CCNow and eight of our leading partners released a joint statement recognizing that humanity faces a “climate emergency.” For Scientific American, editor Mark Fishcetti explained his magazine’s decision to sign the statement: “Journalism should reflect what science says: the climate emergency is here.” We still welcome your outlet’s backing for the statement! Read and sign our statement…

SOME OF THE WEEK’S ESSENTIAL CLIMATE COVERAGE:

There has been no shortage of strong content over the past two weeks, but here are just a few recent stories we hope you didn’t miss:

  • President Biden’s climate summit last week brought a host of new commitments from world leaders, following on the heels of Biden’s own pledge to cut US emissions at least in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. Japan announced plans to reduce emissions by 46%; South Korea pledged to end state-funding of coal projects; Canada raised its fossil fuel emissions reduction target from 30 to 40%; and China—whose president, Xi Jinping, surprised some by attending the virtual summit—made an economic case for fast climate action. “The commitments we make must be real,” Biden told leaders. “I know we can do this.” From Oliver Milman, at The Guardian…

  • Last week, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro essentially held the Amazon rainforest hostage, saying he would curb deforestation—but only if the US agreed to pay Brazil $1 billion a year. Then, this weekend, Bolsonaro cut his country’s environmental protection budget by 23%. It was a “shocking but certainly not unexpected” move, at a time when environmental advocates hope Biden will secure a deal with Bolsonaro to protect the Amazon, which is key to mitigating the climate emergency. From Dharna Noor, at Earther…

  • The pandemic called every aspect of our lives into question, and climate change is set to do the same. The choices societies make starting now will determine whether climatization—defined as “the process by which climate change will transform society,”—leads to a clean energy future and greater resilience or to a world in which human suffering, inequality, conflict, and the loss of plant and animal species are all amplified. From Justin Worland, in a cover story for Time…

  • The US Environmental Protection Agency is moving to restore California’s right to set its own aggressive automobile emissions standards, a right that was revoked under the Trump administration. From Anna M. Phillips, at the Los Angeles Times…

  • Renewable energy was not to blame for the power outages that rocked Texas following an arctic blast in February. Yet Republican politicians in the state, channeling national right-wing talking points, are pushing legislation that would punish wind and solar power production companies, hoisting huge costs on them for underperformance that conventional power plants are not asked to pay. From Dan Gearino, at Inside Climate News… 

REPUBLICATION RECOMMENDATIONS:

The following stories deserve special consideration for republication by CCNow partners:

And The Weather Channel’s climate unit, Pattrn, offers short videos to embed in digital stories—3 to 5 minutes each—from their “Faces of Change” series. These videos focus on young people at the forefront of finding solutions to climate change and environmental justice, from energy efficiency and urban gardening to recycling goods and plant-based eating. Watch the videos here…

A complete list of recommended stories from our “Living Through the Climate Emergency” joint coverage event is here, with copy and assets for many of those stories here.

ODDS & ENDS:

This week we proudly welcomed new CCNow partners: Vermont Public Radio, Investigate West, WOIO-TV in Cleveland, KVNF public radio in western Colorado, and WUSF public radio in Tampa Bay; the Exeter Observer and CONSTRAIN, in the United Kingdom; the Treibhaus podcast, in Switzerland; Hong Kong University’s Journalism and Media Studies Centre; The Wire Science, in India; allAfrica Global Media; and The Standard Media Group, in Kenya.

How does a journalist or newsroom participate?

  • Publish and broadcast stories about the climate emergency and share them with the CCNow community. Please submit your story here and use these sharing guidelines. After we review, we’ll add your story to the sharing library and post it on the CCNow’s new Slack workspace so partners can access the content
  • Republish or rebroadcast at least one story a day by CCNow partners to extend the reach and impact of all partners’ works. See the curated collection to schedule pieces in advance and check the sharing library for updates and new stories. Make sure to follow the sharing guidelines below when you republish or rebroadcast content.
  • Engage Your Audience: Share the social media callout that asks readers and viewers about how they’re living through the climate emergency. We ask that you add #ClimateEmergencyWeek to the callout so we can track responses. After the collaboration week, we’ll share these audience perspectives with you. Have other engagement ideas? Let’s discuss in our member slack workspace.
  • Amplify CCNow coverage on social media. Use the social assets below to inform your audience about the week and show your commitment to climate. Be sure to reshare stories on your social media from across the CCNow collaboration and use #ClimateEmergencyWeek on the posts.

Sharing Guidelines

This helps us track our collaborative efforts

When publishing your own content for the joint coverage week, please include the following tagline: This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

When republishing partner content CCNow partners MUST include the following tagline: This story originally appeared in [originating outlet name, with a link to the original story] and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Please include our partnership logo on your own content and republished stories. Download here.

For more detailed information and guidelines about CCNow’s content sharing arrangement, see here.

Social

Let’s inform audiences and bring to light our collective effort by using the #ClimateEmergencyWeek hashtag when we share stories. We’ve also create visual assets for your use across your social media accounts and some sample copy below to get you started.

Check out our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages throughout the week where we’ll be posting stories from all partners and encourage you to do the same. If you see a story that you think we should share, let us know by posting with #ClimateEmergencyWeek and tagging us @coveringclimate.

Engagement Callout

Use one of the engagement questions we’ve created below or craft your own, more localized question. Remember to include #ClimateEmergencyWeek when posting so we can track responses and deliver them to you.

  • How is the climate emergency impacting your daily life?
  • How are you surviving the climate emergency? (Have you had to start buying water? Do you wear a mask due to low air quality? Have you moved?)
  • Are you a frontline worker? How are you experiencing the convergence of the climate and covid crises?

#ClimateEmergencyWeek Visuals

Access social assets in English

CCNow Climate Emergency Week Image

Access all blank social assets

(for you to fill in other translations or engagement questions)

Sample tweets

Living Through the Climate Emergency @CoveringClimate joint coverage week begins today. We’re running stories focused on the people and places experiencing the climate crisis and how they can survive it. #ClimateEmergencyWeek

We’re participating in @CoveringClimate Living Through the Climate Emergency joint coverage week, and are committed to informing our audience about the realities of the crisis AND it’s solutions. First up: *copy about your specific pieces* #ClimateEmergencyWeek

Ahead of Earth Day, we’re joining the journalism collaborative @CoveringClimate to report on the climate emergency and we want to know, how are you experiencing it in your daily life? #ClimateEmergencyWeek

THREAD:

Science tells us the climate crisis is here, now, and frontline communities know this all too well. We’re joining @CoveringClimate’s #ClimateEmergencyWeek to increase reporting that centers impacted communities and we want to hear from you. 1/2

Tell us about your experiences by replying/tweeting your response with #ClimateEmergencyWeek. How are you surviving the climate emergency? What changes have you had to make in your daily life? 2/2

Slack

We’ll be communicating with partners about the Climate Emergency Week on CCNow’s new collaboration Slack workspace. If you’re a partner and would like to join the Slack workspace, email our engagement editor, Mekdela Maskal. If you’re not yet a partner and would like to join our Slack, you can sign up here.