Here’s our roundup of publications that publish articles about climate change.
If you’re like me, you’re probably concerned about the impact of fossil fuels. It’s something I worry about every day, to some extent. The harm caused by the burning of fossil fuels is already extreme, and may make many parts of our world unlivable by people.
These publications cover the topic of climate change. Some of them are focused exclusively on the topic, while others cover a broader range of topics. For those interested in their writing having an impact on the future climate, this list may be worth pursuing. However, keep in mind that local publications are also an important outlet for climate news and reporting.
— Jacob Jans
Grist is a non-profit online publication that covers climate and sustainability. They welcome “a wide range of freelance pitches, from reported essays to in-depth investigations to changemaker profiles and Q&As.” Their “core topics include clean energy, sustainable food, environmental justice, livable communities, and reinventing the economy through cutting-edge science and cleantech.” Pay starts at $0.80 per word. Details here.
Type Investigations is a nonprofit investigative newsroom. They cover the “most urgent issues of our time, including racial and economic justice, climate and environmental health, and civil and human rights.” Their written features are generally 4,000-6,000 words and they typically pay $3,000-$6,000 (including travel and reporting expenses). For more information, refer to their pitch guide.
It’s Freezing in LA! (IFLA!) is an independent magazine about climate change. They are looking for pitches for articles about environmental issues. They will pay £150 for 1,000 words. The deadline is February 7, 2020. For details, refer to this Twitter post and this page.
Civil Eats is a source for daily news about the American food system. They are seeking pitches about all things food and agriculture, and are especially interested in pitches from writers with experience in “policy, climate, school meals, race, and science.” Reported features start at $500, and shorter interviews, reviews, profiles, and other short pieces start at $400. To learn more, refer to their FAQs for contributors.
Capital & Main is a publication that “reports on inequities related to class, race, immigration, gender, corporate accountability, climate change and energy, education and health, both in California and nationally.” They publish daily and accept pitches from freelance writers all the time. They pay $250 to $500 per story. For more information, refer to this page.
Outrider strives to be “an online source of hard-hitting commentary and journalism that calls for the end of nuclear weapons and action against the existential threat of climate change.” They are seeking new voices to produce climate and nuclear non-proliferation journalism. Their standard rate is $1,000/story. Their stories are usually 1,000-1,200 words. If interested, send your pitches through their online submission form. You don’t need to be an expert to contribute. To learn more, read their writer guidelines.
Informed Comment is a website covering news, politics, and foreign policy, especially about the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States. Topics include religion, human rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and religious discrimination, and energy and climate change. Payment is $100 per article. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
Nexus Media News is a nonprofit news service dedicated to climate change. They are always seeking pieces on how communities across the United States are responding to the climate crisis. They are especially interested in solutions-oriented stories centering on frontline and BIPOC communities. Their rates start at pay $500 for reported features (1,000 to 1,200 words) and single-subject profiles. For details, read their pitch guide.
Long Now is a non-profit organization that fosters long-term thinking. Their pitch guide says, “Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.” They want stories that explore the ‘long now’ of climate change, the rise and fall of civilizations, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, economics, architecture, and more. They accept pitches for essays (1,200 – 3,000 words), reported features (1,200 to 3,000 words), interviews (2,000 to 3,000 words), book reviews, shorter articles, fiction, and poems for Ideas, their living archive of long-term thinking. Rates begin at $600 for features and essays and range between $300 and $600 for interviews, reviews, science journalism, and news articles. Rates are $100 for science fiction stories and $25 for poems. For more information, refer to their pitch guide.
Climate Home News covers global climate politics. They welcome article pitches from freelance writers from around the world. They want news stories that have a climate change angle as well as an international outlook. Topics of interest include “climate finance, major energy projects, land use conflicts, loss and damage attributable to climate change, greenwash, climate diplomacy and geopolitics.” Rates begin at £0.35/word. For more information, visit this page.
The Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) is a nonprofit print and digital magazine that educates the nonprofit sector through research-based articles and resources. They usually publish articles of 1,500-3,000 words. They especially look for articles and pitches that cover one or more of their “four justice areas—economic, racial, climate, and health justice—as well as leadership, management, and philanthropy.” According to their climate justice senior editor, they pay $300 for web pieces. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.
The Real News Network is an independent, nonprofit news network that is focused on providing uncompromising and fact-based journalism. They cover politics, prisons and policing, racial justice, climate crisis, and economy and inequality. According to payment reports, they pay about $1 per word. If interested, contact them at contact@therealnews.com. To learn more about them, refer to this page.
The Women’s Media Center is a nonprofit organization that is working to make women and girls more visible and powerful in the media. They publish articles written by a diverse group of journalists on their website every week. They look for stories on a wide range of topics including feminism, violence, online harassment, freedom of expression, digital security, and climate change. They also look for stories written by Latinx women. They pay $200 per story. To learn more, read their pitch guidelines.
The Lead is a micro-mag about politics and culture. They cover “the sharp angles that define our life in the UK today: poverty, racism, climate change, corporate and government malfeasance, the breakdown of our healthcare system and the fracturing of the state.” They accept submissions for features (1,500-2,000 words), long-reads, essays, and op-eds (800-1,200 words). As per this tweet by The Lead, they pay at least £180 for op-eds. If interested, send your pitches to pitches@thelead.uk. To learn more, refer to this page.
KneeDeep Times is a digital magazine about climate resilience. They focus on the SF Bay Area. They welcome story, art, and other submissions on a wide range of climate resilience topics. They generally pay $1 per word. To learn more, refer to this page.
Trucha is an independent multimedia platform that covers topics and issues that affect the Rio Grande Valley. They publish “content about immigration, reproductive justice, LGBTQ issues, climate justice, regional arts and culture, racial justice, and more.” The content formats that they publish include longform feature articles (2,000 words at $0.50/word), op-eds (600 words at $0.30/word), news blurbs (300 words at $0.30/word), and art. They only accept pitches from “people who currently live or grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas (and North Mexican side of this border region including Reynosa, Matamoros, etc).” For more information, refer to their pitch guidelines.
