Climate Home News

Climate Home News
Name	Climate Home News
Type	Online news outlet
Founded	2014
Founder	Luke Kemp, Emma Howard
Language	English
Headquarters	London

Climate Home News is an independent online news outlet focused on international climate change reporting, with an emphasis on United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations and global climate finance debates. The site provides daily coverage of international relations around carbon markets, renewable energy transitions, and loss and damage discussions, targeting policymakers, negotiators, and civil society actors across multilateral forums.

History

Founded in 2014 by journalists including Luke Kemp and Emma Howard, the outlet emerged amid growing media attention to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference and the lead-up to the Paris Agreement. Early reporting tracked developments at Conference of the Parties sessions, intergovernmental panels such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and diplomatic negotiations involving blocs like the European Union and the Umbrella Group. Coverage documented the interplay between major emitting countries including China, the United States, India, and Brazil, and followed shifting commitments influenced by actors such as Greenpeace, World Resources Institute, and the World Bank.

Ownership and Funding

The outlet has operated as an independent journalistic venture funded through a mix of philanthropic grants, membership models, and sponsored projects. Support has included foundations and NGOs active in climate policy discourse, such as the European Climate Foundation, the ClimateWorks Foundation, and philanthropic arms connected to institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. The funding model positioned the outlet alongside other specialized media initiatives backed by entities like the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, while retaining editorial independence similar to outlets such as InsideClimate News and DeSmog.

Editorial Focus and Coverage

Editorially, the outlet concentrates on diplomatic reporting of UNFCCC processes, transparency in climate finance pledges, and scrutiny of corporate net-zero commitments from multinational companies including Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies. It routinely covers scientific assessments produced by the IPCC, financial mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, and legal frameworks such as the Paris Agreement and the Kyoto Protocol. Reporting links policy debates to activism by groups including Fridays for Future, 350.org, and Extinction Rebellion, while tracking market instruments like the European Union Emissions Trading System and voluntary carbon standards managed by organizations such as the Gold Standard and the Verified Carbon Standard.

Notable Investigations and Reporting

The outlet has conducted in-depth investigations into lobbying efforts by fossil fuel interests during COP negotiations, exposing ties between corporate delegations and negotiating positions associated with companies like Chevron and trade associations such as the International Emissions Trading Association. Investigative pieces scrutinized the transparency of climate finance commitments from donor countries including Germany, Japan, and Norway, and examined contentious issues such as carbon offsets promoted by airlines like International Airlines Group and shipping lines represented by groups such as the International Chamber of Shipping. Reporting highlighted controversies around accounting rules negotiated under the UNFCCC and the role of intermediaries including Goldman Sachs and ING Group in structuring green investment.

Impact and Reception

Coverage has been cited by major media outlets and think tanks, influencing debates among negotiators from constituencies such as the Least Developed Countries Group and the Alliance of Small Island States. The outlet’s reporting has been used by campaigners at organizations like Oxfam and WWF to press for stronger loss and damage mechanisms and increased climate finance commitments. Academics affiliated with institutions such as University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and Columbia University have referenced its analyses in policy briefs and scholarly discussions. Critics from some industry associations and business groups have disputed investigative findings, prompting exchanges with entities including BusinessEurope and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Awards and Recognition

Journalists from the outlet have received nominations and awards from press and environmental organizations recognizing excellence in environmental journalism, aligning them with peers honored by bodies such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds awards and the British Journalism Awards. Coverage has been shortlisted in categories administered by institutions like the Society of Environmental Journalists and recognized in media summaries prepared by entities such as the Overseas Development Institute and the Chatham House climate programme.

Category:Environmental news media Category:Online newspapers published in the United Kingdom