27 Publications Paying for Writing on Climate Change

For those who want to get paid to write about climate change, here’s a list of 27 publications that pay for writing on the topic.

Keep in mind that this isn’t a comprehensive list. I very much see a need for local publications to publish more stories about how climate change will affect local communities — which is another avenue to look into, for those pursuing this niche.

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1. The BREAK—DOWN explores “the political economy of climate and ecological crisis.” They publish “critical essays that explore how capitalism both shapes, and is being reshaped by, climate and ecological crisis.” Their issues feature long-form pieces of around 3,000 words, whereas stand-alone pieces run up to about 2,000 words. According to their Bluesky post, they pay 20p/word, to a maximum of £400 for online essays. If interested, send your pitches to pitching@break-down.org. To learn more, refer to this page.
2. Mother Jones is an investigative news organization. They report on politics, criminal and racial justice, democracy, human rights, education, climate change, food/agriculture, and more. They commission revelatory and dynamic stories that teach people something they didn’t already know. According to their pitch guide, print rates begin at $1.75/word, while their online rates begin at $0.75/word. For more details, read their freelance writer guidelines.
3. Asimov Press features writing about biology and its impact on our world. They welcome pitches from “writers who can make sense of biology’s impacts on climate, energy, security, agriculture, materials, and medicine.” They publish essays; Moonshots; speculative fiction; interviews and photo essays. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1,500 for essays under 2,500 words and $2,000 for longer pieces, and $1,000 for fiction.
4. Hothouse is a climate focused newsletter that publishes investigative reporting about climate solutions. They previously indicated pay of $0.50 per word, but now say they pay competitive rates. They’re relatively new, but they have backing from Columbia University, the Solutions Journalism Network, and the Google News Initiative. To learn more and to pitch them, read this page.
5. 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.” According to their pitch guide, op-eds start at £200 for 800-1200 words, features are paid from £400 for around 1500 words, and fees for investigations and long reads are negotiated individually.
6. The Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) is a nonprofit print and digital magazine that educates the nonprofit sector through research-based articles and resources. Short-form pieces are 750-1,500 words, and long-form pieces are 1,500-2,500 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 an old tweet by their climate justice senior editor, they pay $300 for web pieces. To learn more, refer to their submissions page.
7. Climate Home News covers global climate politics. They accept 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.” The standard word count for news is 600 words, and for comment pieces, 800. According to their guidelines, rates begin at £0.35/word. For more information, visit this page.

8. 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. According to their pitch guide, 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. 
9. 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. According to their guidelines, rates start at $500 for reported features (1,000 to 1,200 words) and short profiles. For details, read their pitch guide.
10. 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. Typically, their word counts run between 1,000-1,200 words, and they publish everything from investigative articles and expert analyses to interviews and book excerpts. According to their guidelines, their standard rate is $1,000/story. Their stories are usually 1,000-1,200 words. To learn more, read their writer guidelines.
11. KneeDeep Times is a digital magazine about climate resilience. They focus on the SF Bay Area and beyond. They welcome submissions on a wide range of climate resilience topics. They prefer solution-driven stories about the greater San Francisco Bay Area, but welcome stories about California, the West Coast, or even elsewhere in the country as long as you can add information about what it has to do with our region. Preferred lengths are 500 or 1000 words. According to their submission guidelines, they generally pay $1 per word. 
12. 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 4,000-5,000 words and, according to their pitch guide, they typically pay $3,000-$6,000 (including travel and reporting expenses). For more information, refer to their pitch guide.
13. 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. The article length should be between 600 and 1500 words. According to an old tweet, they pay $200 per story. To learn more, read their pitch guidelines.
14. 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.” Their freelance journalists report on inequality related to class, race, immigration, gender, corporate accountability, climate change and energy, education and health both in California and nationally. They previously indicated to pay $250 to $500 per story, but current rates are unclear. For more information, refer to this page.
15. Trellis is a business-to-business media company that focuses on corporate sustainability practice and strategy, covering topics related to the environment, sustainability, climate, business management, and careers. Their target audience is senior leaders in large corporations. They seek contributors with wxpertise and practical on-the-ground knowledge about sustainability work across sectors and companies. According to an old tweet by their editorial director, they pay $200 to $500 per piece. To learn more, refer to this page.
16. 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 $0.50 per word. If interested, contact them at contact@therealnews.com. To learn more about them, refer to this page.
17. It’s Freezing in LA! (IFLA!) is an independent magazine about climate justice, art and science. They are looking for pitches for articles about environmental issues. They publish essays, reviews, graphic novels, interviews and more. According to their guidelines, they typically pay £130 for print articles that are around 1,000 words in length. For details, refer to this page.
18. Talking Points Memo (TPM) is a web-based political news organization that covers “politics, policy and national news in Washington D.C. and beyond.” They are particularly interested in stories relating to climate, economic policy, and labor. They state that they pay competitive rates. According to an old payment report, they pay $0.25 per word. To learn more, read their pitching guidelines.
19. 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.” Articles range between ​800 to 2,000 words. According to their guidelines, pay starts at $0.80 per word. Details here.
20. The Revelator is “an online news and ideas initiative of the Center for Biological Diversity.” They cover climate change, endangered species, wildlife, conservation, pollution, and more. They take submissions for limited categories and according to their guidelines, pay $300 to $500 per article. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
21. 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.  Authors for Informed Comment are typically high-powered professionals with higher degrees and/or extensive publications in national, prominent venues. They seek out topical, original opinion pieces that make a single point and run 800-1000 words. According to their pitch guide, payment is $100 per article. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.
22. Discover Magazine is a print and online science magazine for the general public. They cover topics ranging from “global warming and black holes to Neanderthals and robots.” Word length for columns/department is 1,200-1,500 words, short feature stories 600-1,000 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1/word for print. For the web, typically $300/story.  
23. The Earth Island Journal is a quarterly magazine that discusses the environment and how it relates to present-day issues, including climate change, environmental justice, and wildlife and land conservation. They are particularly interested in stories that explore the intersections between the environment and other social and human rights issues. According to their guidelines, pay is $0.50/word for print features up to 4,000 words, though 2,800 words is most common, and $400 for stories published online..To learn more, make sure to read their full submission guidelines.
24. Overland is a magazine of cultural criticism, essays, and literature. They are interested in articles on economic inequality, housing, arts policy and governance, climate change, and environmental justice. They are looking for thoughtful, provocative and argumentative articles, pieces that will provoke discussion and debate. According to their pitch guide, they pay $150 per published online piece. Articles should be 800 to 1200 words. 
25. Vox is a general interest website that covers public policy, politics, world affairs, climate, culture, technology, science, health, and business. They accept pitches in a variety of categories, including money, technology, culture, and climate. According to a pitch guide tweeted by their deputy editor, rates are $0.50 to $1.00 a word or more for their Future Perfect section. They also accept pitches for their climate section. To read their full pitch guide, refer to this page.
26. The Sierra is the magazine of the Sierra club, the non-profit environmental activist organization. Their readers are “are environmentally concerned, politically diverse, and actively enjoy the outdoors.” They pay up to $1.50 a word for feature articles. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.