Demands

“If there really was a crisis this big, then we would rarely talk about anything else. As soon as you turn on the TV, almost everything would be about that: headlines, radio, newspapers. You would almost never hear or read about anything else.” -Greta Thunberg

1. CLIMATE HEADLINES DAILY

The climate and ecological crisis is the biggest story in history, and should be front-page news every day.

2. CLIMATE EVERYWHERE: EVERY BEAT, EVERY STORY

• Insert mentions of the climate breakdown in stories that already cover its causes and effects, and in politics, business, tech, international affairs, energy, immigration, health, real estate, food, sports, the arts, etc.

• Provide mandatory trainings for reporters and editors on all beats to understand the essentials of climate science, climate justice, the solutions available for the current crisis, and the history of global climate and ecological injustice.

• Report the links to climate breakdown in every story about extreme weather and its effects. Cover the carbon count and include it in the daily weather report.

3. REMOVE FINANCIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• Ban all advertising from companies that trade in fossil fuels.

• Divest from fossil fuel companies.

4. SUGGEST REAL SOLUTIONS

• Stop suggesting consumer-driven solutions.

• Start suggesting community-driven solutions and mobilization. Acknowledge the necessity and scale of the systemic changes to our economies and societies that are needed to address the emergency.

5. USE CLIMATE EMERGENCY LANGUAGE

• Stop calling it “climate change.” Name the threat: “climate crisis,” “climate breakdown,” “climate destruction,” or “climate emergency.”

• Use language that states the risks of the crisis more clearly. For example, “global warming” becomes “global heating,” and “biodiversity” becomes “wildlife” or “the living world”.

• Do not publish statements that cast doubt on the scientific consensus that a catastrophic climate crisis is under way and driven by human activity.

• Do not print the opinion of writers who cast doubt on the scientific consensus and the effects of the climate emergency.

6. ENACT CLIMATE STANDARDS FOR POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS

At a minimum prerequisites should include support for halting all new fossil fuel infrastructure, support for a climate plan that ties to one or more of XR’s Demands (declare climate emergency, net zero by 2025, citizens’ assembly, or just transition).