28 Publications that Pay for Writing About Environmental Issues and Sustainability

Here’s our latest research — a list of publications that accept submissions about environmental issues and sustainability and that work with freelance writers.

We’ve researched payment rates, pitch guidelines, and more, to help you connect with the right editor.

If you want to browse even more opportunities, be sure to check out our database of over 1,500 publishers that pay writers. It’s easily searchable, and includes thousands of listings just like the ones below.

If you’re new to freelancing, I also very much encourage you to take our course on pitching. You can get the details here.

1. 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, refer to their submission guidelines.

1. 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.

1. 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, refer to their pitch guide.

1. 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, refer to this page.

1. National Wildlife is a magazine published by the National Wildlife Federation, the largest private conservation group in the United States. It is quarterly, has an average circulation per issue of more than 300,000 and focuses on storytelling related to wildlife and habitat conservation, environmental justice, climate change, and more. They are looking for features from 1,000 to 2,000 words and departments (short pieces) from 350 to 900 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1.50 a word for print. For web, pay is negotiated per article and typically starts at $250. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. FoodPrint is a project of GRACE Communications Foundation. They cover a wide range of food-related topics with a focus on sustainability: industry trends, food policy, labor issues, animal welfare, pesticides and pollution, packaging and plastics, food sovereignty and more, all focused on the U.S. and topics that impact U.S. consumers. They regularly commission analysis and reporting from outside contributors. Most pieces run between 800 and 1600 words. According to their pitch guide, rates range from $650 – $950 depending on experience and the needs of the story. To learn more, refer to this page.

1. The Sierra is the magazine of the Sierra club, the non-profit environmental activist organization. Their readers are “environmentally concerned, politically diverse, and actively enjoy the outdoors.” According to their guidelines, they pay up to $1.50 a word for feature articles. To learn more, refer to their submission guidelines.

1. 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, refer to their writer guidelines.