Today we pledge to give the climate crisis the attention it demands

Extract from The Guardian

Guardian climate pledge 2019

Environment

Katharine Viner

The Guardian’s editor-in-chief explains why support from our readers is crucial in enabling us to produce fearless, independent reporting that addresses the climate emergency

• Read the Guardian’s climate pledge

Wed 16 Oct 2019 19.11 AEDT Last modified on Thu 17 Oct 2019 05.45 AEDT

Young people in Lausanne, Switzerland, take part in a school strike to urge action on the climate emergency. Photograph: Valentin Flauraud/EPA

At the Guardian we believe the climate crisis is the most urgent issue of our times. And we know that Guardian readers are equally passionate about the need for governments, businesses and individuals to take immediate action to avoid a catastrophe for humanity and for the natural world.
Today the Guardian is making a pledge to our readers that we will play our part, both in our journalism and in our own organisation, to address the climate emergency. We hope this underlines to you the Guardian’s deep commitment to quality environmental journalism, rooted in scientific fact.
We have always led the way in environmental reporting, whether it’s covering air pollution or wildlife extinction, threats to the oceans or the human and social costs that rising temperatures bring.

But now more than ever, we believe the Guardian’s specialist team of reporters, editors and writers has a vital role to play in working with our readers to understand the unfolding climate crisis and all its ramifications.
We now have dedicated reporters around the world, including in the US, the biggest carbon polluter on the globe; Australia, the biggest exporter of coal and liquid natural gas; and Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro has disputed that climate is a factor as fires rage in the Amazon.

As an organisation we will take steps to address the Guardian’s own impact on the environment. Today we commit to achieving net zero emissions by 2030, and we are currently undertaking a full audit of our emissions to assess how we will achieve this challenging goal. Through our recently acquired B Corp status, which commits us to reducing our environmental impact as well as to high standards of governance and social impact, we will be transparent and accountable.
At the Guardian we believe it is vital to give people open access to factual, independent reporting on the climate crisis. For this reason, and thanks to generous financial support from readers in more than 180 countries, we can keep all Guardian journalism free of a paywall.
Thank you. This support allows us to focus on delivering powerful reporting on the climate emergency, and its impact on people and the planet.
Just last week we published a global investigative series, The Polluters, examining how just 20 companies are responsible for more than a third of all global emissions. This reporting, by our environmental team and network of correspondents around the world with their wealth of specialist knowledge, is possible only with the support of Guardian readers.
In her speech to Congress in September, Greta Thunberg said: “This is the moment in history when we need to be wide awake.”
I agree. And my pledge today is that the Guardian will give the climate crisis the attention it demands – and deliver our open independent reporting to everyone.

Support Guardian journalism today by making a single or recurring contribution, subscribing or by becoming a patron.