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.