Hello,
We want to make sure you saw that dozens of Covering Climate Now’s partner news outlets are breaking one of the biggest climate change stories in years.
On April 22, Earth Day, leading newspapers, magazines, TV networks, and digital news sites in the US and 23 other countries launched an initiative organized by Covering Climate Now to report on scientific studies finding that an overwhelming majority of people on Earth — 80 to 89% of them — want their governments to take stronger climate action. Crucially, however, these people do not realize they are the majority, perhaps because that fact has not been reflected in previous news coverage or on social media. (See highlights from the studies in this social media post from The Guardian.)
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For the world’s news media, this narrative not only is new — most reporters had no idea that public support for climate action is so high — it also reframes the climate conversation away from one of division and retreat toward one of possibility and common purpose.
We’re calling this initiative The 89 Percent Project, and we’re proud that it has sparked an extraordinary response:
- Seventy-three original stories were produced by influential news outlets in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, including: The Guardian, Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, The Nation, TIME, NBC News, Telemundo, Rolling Stone, Drilled, ICT (Indian Country Today), Crooked Media, The Times of India, The Asahi Shimbun, Corriere della Sera, Canada’s National Observer, Deutsche Welle, and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism. These outlets reach a combined audience of hundreds of millions of people. Nearly all of the stories included the 89 Percent branding or hashtag.
- Many millions more were reached when AFP’s stories were picked up by scores of separate news outlets with big audiences — including The Times of India, Yahoo News, The Daily Mail, France 24, The Bangkok Post, and The Manila Times — and when BBC News and others discussed the 89% findings on the air.
- More than one million people viewed social media posts announcing the project’s findings on Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and other platforms.
- One of the key scientific studies behind the 89 Percent Project was subsequently downloaded more than 111,000 times — an exceptionally broad reach for a scholarly article.
- Representatives from civil society — scientists, politicians, activists, policy makers, and everyday citizens — further spread the project’s findings via social media. Top officials from the European Commission, the UN, the Gallup polling company, and others have contacted CCNow to explore opportunities going forward.
And to be clear, The 89 Percent Project is only getting started. The project continues for the rest of 2025 with additional reporting, newsmaker interviews, webinars for collaborating journalists, and more, leading up to the COP30 UN climate summit in November and beyond.
What comes next? That’s up to you. Journalists and newsrooms interested in getting involved can contact us here. Funders who can help pay for The 89 Percent Project’s work, please reach us here. If you’re an activist, scientist, faith or youth leader, or simply someone inspired to take action by the 89% findings, get in touch here — our journalist colleagues are always looking for story ideas and might want to be in touch.
Thanks for your attention, and onward!
Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope
Co-founders
Covering Climate Now