Updated February 2022
Here are Climate Solutions story ideas that can be done fairly easily, even by newsrooms simultaneously occupied with Covid-19 coverage.
These story recommendations—scalable and adaptable for every publication’s needs, regardless of medium and location—will be updated regularly to reflect the latest developments in the climate story.
Keep it Simple
Climate 101. You can’t solve a problem you don’t understand, so give audiences a simple explainer piece. Focus on basic concepts such as the carbon budget and the need to flatten the global emissions curve (yes, just like with Covid-19). And debunk myths that still hamper public understanding of the climate crisis and its solutions.
Examples and Further Reading:
- 10 common myths about climate change — and what science really says (CBS News)
- What genuine, no-bullshit ambition on climate change would look like (Vox)
Why is it an emergency? To many in our audiences, the differences between “global warming,” “climate crisis,” and “climate emergency” might appear as simple rebrandings. Explain the nuance behind these evolutions in language—quote top scientists or peer-reviewed studies explaining why scientists warn that climate change and prefer the term “climate emergency.” What does this mean for people’s lives, and what would it look like if governments actually did treat it like an emergency? (The global Covid-19 response gives a hint.)
Examples and Further Reading:
- The Guardian’s Climate Pledge (The Guardian)
- Chuck Schumer wants Biden to declare a ‘climate emergency.’ What does that mean? (Grist)
- UN secretary general urges all countries to declare climate emergencies (The Guardian)
- Climate crisis: 11,000 scientists warn of ‘untold suffering’ (The Guardian)
- How the Climate Crisis Is Killing Us, in 9 Alarming Charts (Wired)
It’s Political, not Partisan
What are politicians doing about it? Science is not partisan: the Earth’s climate system is destabilizing, and if governments do not take fast, radical action, humanity will be in very deep trouble. Tell your audiences what their local and national leaders are doing about this scientific imperative, for good or ill. Check voting records and consult watchdog groups to learn whether elected officials respect climate science or dismiss it, want to limit fossil fuel production and subsidies or expand them, etc.
Examples and Further Reading:
- Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against (Nature)
- Is Your Rep Invested in Fossil Fuels? (Sludge)
Climate voting. Climate and environmental voters played a critical role in the 2020 US elections, and they will likely continue to shape the climate discourse in the world’s most powerful country. And, for all the importance of the 2020 election, these voters will maintain a critical voice in local elections and elections elsewhere in the world. Are groups like the Environmental Voter Project finding traction in your region?
Examples and Further Reading:
- Biden Won. Will the Climate? (Grist)
- Why voting rights are climate rights: Two experts talk GOTV (Grist)
- Survey Finds Majority of Voters Support Initiatives to Fight Climate Change (The New York Times)
- A youth group helped Biden win. Now they want him to fix climate crisis (The Guardian)
Would a Green New Deal save us? The term Green New Deal originated in the US, and, in variations, it has become the de facto position of its Democratic party. The term has also been applied to similar green investment-and-jobs programs in the European Union, India, and South Korea, even as an enormous disinformation campaign has been mounted to derail them. Offer audiences explainers, based on interviews with proponents (e.g., the Sunrise Movement) and fair-minded critics: What exactly is a Green New Deal, how would it work, who would pay, and who would benefit?
Examples and Further Reading:
- What can I do to bring the Green New Deal to life? (Grist)
- How Joe Biden’s climate plan compares to the Green New Deal (CBS News)
- What’s actually in the Green New Deal, explained with a video (Vox)
- Who’s Afraid of the Green New Deal? (The Intercept)
- Green New Deal: The Urgent Realism of Radical Change (The American Prospect)
- What is the Green New Deal? A Climate Proposal, Explained. (The New York Times)
Solutions at Hand
We Can Solve This. An irony of this stage in the climate crisis is that many of its technical solutions are already in hand. Audiences will be keen to hear this, especially if coverage can highlight solutions being implemented in their own communities. Check Project Drawdown’s comprehensive solutions guide for concrete examples you can localize and illustrate with further reporting.
Examples and Further Reading:
- The Washington Post’s ‘Climate Solutions’ story collection
- Pulling CO2 out of the air and using it could be a trillion-dollar business (Vox)
Get Personal. The more people learn about the climate crisis, the more they want to know how they can help—and how to cope. Eating less meat is a fix most people can easily implement, so why not run a short piece on local restaurants that offer veggie-forward menus? What home products and technology are available, including on a budget, to help people lower their climate footprints? For what it’s worth, stories like these tend to do quite well, traffic-wise.
Examples and Further Reading:
- Is The Movement To Eat Less Meat Actually Making A Difference? (HuffPost)
- How to Raise Climate-Resilient Kids (Yes! Magazine)
Local Action
Avoid the unmanageable, manage the unavoidable. That’s the mantra experts use to emphasize that climate policy must not only slash ongoing greenhouse gas emissions but also cope with the impacts that are inevitable, for example by building sea defenses. What are governments and businesses doing in your region to protect vital infrastructure—subways, roads, airports, water systems, the electricity supply? Are real estate markets taking sea level rise and other impacts into account, or putting people and property at greater risk?
Examples and Further Reading:
- How America’s Hottest City (Phoenix) Will Survive Climate Change (The Washington Post)
- California is a Climate Leader. But here’s why it needs to move faster (Los Angeles Times)
- Climate Change Threatens Miami’s Last Affordable Housing (CBS News)
- Storm-ravaged Bahamas Rebuilding Its Power Grid With Emphasis On Solar Energy (CBS News, 60 Minutes)
The Good Fight. Activism by individuals can make a big difference, too. Who are the voices in your community or field who are pioneering solutions, regardless of action from the top? Greta Thunberg’s climate strikes made her famous, but there are thousands of young people doing their part—find them! Try starting with local chapters of groups like the Sunrise Movement and the Sierra Club to see who is making waves. Educators, farmers, churches, shops, and individual families might all be working to change the game in your area.
Examples and Further Reading:
- Black Farmers Embrace Practices of Climate Resiliency (Yes! Magazine)
- ‘I’ve lost friends’: the young climate strikers forced to go it alone (The Guardian)
- For This Teacher, Solar Panels Offer the Best Science Lesson (Sierra Magazine)
The Weather
Make the climate-extreme weather link. Hurricanes, droughts, floods, wildfires, and heat waves are worsening as global warming accelerates, but many news stories (at least in the US) still ignore the climate connection. This leaves audiences ill-informed about climate change even as they experience it. Climate change usually isn’t the sole cause of extreme weather, but it is often a major contributor. The next time extreme weather occurs, correct the record by citing scientists such as Katharine Hayhoe and Michael Mann, or, better yet, scientists from your own region.
Examples and Further Reading:
- The Midwest Is Preparing To Get Hit With Major Floods During The Coronavirus Outbreak (BuzzFeed News)
- How climate change has intensified the Australia wildfires (CBS News)
Ask public officials what they’re doing about it. If you’ve done stories about how climate change will bring harsher heat waves or rising seas to your area, update those stories. Ask the mayor’s office—or governor’s, or president’s—what solutions they’re pursuing. Then run those plans by scientists, activists, and other independent voices. How do they measure up?