Foundations around the world have set out to drive solutions to prevent the worst from unchecked, human-made climate change. Some progress has been made: in many countries, climate movements, severe weather events and the relentless work of scientists, progressive politicians and NGOs have increased awareness that large-scale climate action is urgently needed. Many businesses and finance institutions are shifting priorities and communication, and are developing the business models for a climate-neutral world.

However, global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and scientists warn that the time to avoid severe damage to ecosystems and livelihoods is running out. Given the size of the challenge, solutions to tackle the worst effects of climate change will have to be systemic in nature and directly affect people’s everyday lives – a difficult task, especially at a time when the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine and high inflation hit economies and individuals alike, threatening to further divide societies. The challenge creating a fact-based, effective and democratic debate about the necessary changes on the way to climate-neutral economies and their economic and social impacts has never been bigger.

Quality journalism plays an essential role for such a constructive public debate, ideally helping politicians, business leaders and citizens to navigate the complex processes and to take well-informed, effective decisions. Journalists have a dual role to play: They must highlight the threats of climate change. But even more importantly, they must present and assess solutions and closely monitor the actions by governments and businesses. Journalism can also offer a glimpse into what the future may hold and show the forks in the road where the best path forward needs to be negotiated and decided upon.

However, journalists face a tough environment. The digital revolution has put media businesses under severe financial strain as the big platforms eat into revenues. The latest leap in artificial intelligence adds extra pressure to adjust journalism’s business models and journalists’ way of working. Time and resource-intensive journalism such as foreign reporting or local, in-depth coverage suffers most. In addition, social media allows everyone to circumvent the media, stripping journalists of their role as gatekeepers of quality information.

Despite the challenges, many media outlets have ramped up climate coverage. Yet too often, climate reporting is still guided by traditional news criteria, and the political cycle remains event-driven and connected to the latest heat waves or climate conferences. Way too often, stories lack context, explanations, a diversity of voices and solutions as well as a form and tonality that truly speaks to a wider audience, failing to provide citizens with the basis for well-informed decisions.

Well-targeted foundation support for journalism on climate action is therefore more important than ever to ensure a democratic, fact-based, and effective discourse and an inclusive decision-making process. Philanthropic support offers journalists time and capacity to consistently report on one of the most pressing issues humanity faces beyond the logic of the attention economy. It allows journalists to dig into and stick with a climate story, across media sections or individual topics and even borders. Journalists get time and means to verify information on social media and prevent misinformation from spreading, which remains crucial in times of “alternative facts,” and ongoing disinformation campaigns by interested players aimed at slowing meaningful climate action. Climate journalists are also capable of breaking down complex international climate debates to the local context and reporting on the effects of political decisions on citizens’ immediate environment –  especially on disenfranchised communities that rarely get the media’s attention.

Yet too often, climate reporting is still guided by traditional news criteria, and the political cycle remains event-driven and connected to the latest heat waves or climate conferences. Way too often, stories lack context, explanations, a diversity of voices and solutions as well as a form and tonality that truly speaks to a wider audience, failing to provide citizens with the basis for well-informed decisions.

Media houses and audiences have woken. The success of not-for-profit media service Clean Energy Wire CLEW provides a strong example of the appetite for better climate coverage. Stiftung Mercator and the European Climate Foundation founded CLEW 2014 with the goal to ensure high-quality reporting on climate action policies in Germany and abroad. Since then, CLEW has been providing a non-partisan fact-base on the energy transition in Germany and the relevant European context. The team produces daily updates, explainers, and context-filled analyses on government policies and the shift in the most relevant business sectors such as mobility, heavy industry, or finance to keep other reporters in the loop. As the foundation support allows for free distribution, CLEW also reaches a wide range of decision-makers, opinion leaders, and researchers.

Foundation funding enables a unique collaborative approach: the team shares its expertise and quality contacts with fellow journalists, connecting them to scientists, experts in think tanks & NGOs, and credible sources in politics, media, and the corporate sector. On- and offline workshops, research tours and networking opportunities help fellow journalists to better understand the complex energy transition and stimulate peer-to-peer learning and collaboration. Activities such as collaborative research grants put relevant issues on journalists’ agenda and boost cross-border cooperation.

As many climate stories are transnational by nature, CLEW started to extend its work to better connect coverage of the European Union’s energy and climate policy. First offers have met strong interest, indicating the need and potential for more integrated European journalism. Overall tens of thousands of journalists and readers from a wide variety of backgrounds have used CLEW’s services since 2014 to stay on top of energy and climate issues and to improve their own reporting, and the number of subscribers keeps growing.

Foundation-funding has been a crucial factor for CLEW to develop credibility and reputation and to cater to the needs of other journalists based on the highest journalistic standards. The CLEW team enjoys full editorial control over their reporting and their programs. Independence from market-based revenue generation allows one to focus on climate-action-relevant issues, even if they have not reached the attention of paying readers or are otherwise underreported. CLEW’s time-consuming long-format journalism integrates different voices and points of view more systematically into a constructive debate about what climate change and climate action mean for all members of society. Finally, the freedom to focus and experiment has allowed CLEW to provide other media players with fresh ideas and examples for ways to play a more constructive role in the public debate on climate action.

Overall, for foundation leaders who want to make an impact, the support of high-quality journalism offers a direct means to safeguard and elevate the debates worldwide, as well as to strengthen an informed and democratic public discourse in fields of philanthropic engagement well beyond the climate crisis, from social cohesion and global justice to democracy and international cooperation.

Philipp Offergeld is a Project Manager with Stiftung Mercator’s Climate Action team where he manages the foundations transport decarbonization portfolio, and develops and oversees climate journalism projects such as the Clean Energy Wire.

Sven Egenter is founder and editor in chief of media service Clean Energy Wire CLEW.