The global climate crisis is the emergency of our times. Amid all the fear and sadness of 2020, it remains the overwhelming long-term threat to our planet and to everyone’s health and security.
That is why we promise to keep reporting on it, raising the alarm and investigating the crisis and possible solutions, until we begin to see genuine systemic change.
A year ago, the Guardian made a pledge to our readers. We promised to keep speaking out about the climate emergency, despite the formidable and well-funded forces who would much rather the subject remained buried. We adopted new language to emphasise the existential nature of the situation. We pledged to deepen our environmental reporting. Our commercial teams decided to reject all advertising from fossil fuel extractors – a first among major media companies. We committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. And that was just the start.
Thousands of readers from 130 countries joined us as a result, paying to support open, independent, authoritative environmental journalism that pulls no punches, exposes the depth of the crisis, and challenges us to rethink every aspect of our warming world – how it can be better, more sustainable, more just and more hopeful.
That support has enabled us to maintain a relentless focus on the environment, with almost 3,000 articles over the last 12 months. We have published investigations, scientific analysis, reports on species extinction and air quality – and we have kept the voices of those affected by global heating at the heart of our reporting.
In the past year, we’ve reported from the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as other climate frontlines: the Amazon, the Sahara, the wildfires of Australia and the American west. We reported from the Cop25 summit of governments (travelling there by train). We have closely covered the movements trying to bring about change, such as Extinction Rebellion and the school climate strikes. We dug deep into the loss of wildlife, the problems of air pollution and microplastics, and exposed the most polluting companies on the planet.
We want our supporters to know: when you fund us, this is what you are paying for.