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A message from Michael E Mann, presidential distinguished professor, University of Pennsylvania, on behalf of the Guardian. Professor Mann is one of the world’s most influential climate scientists – he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States and was recently elected a fellow of the Royal Society in the United Kingdom.
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Dear fellow Guardian reader,

In my view, the Guardian does some of the best reporting around on the climate. It doesn’t hold back from describing the devastating consequences of the climate crisis or from calling out those who engage in denial and delay.

If, like me, you appreciate the Guardian’s reporting on the climate crisis, you can help fund their independent journalism today by clicking here.

By contrast, media organisations like Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bear as much culpability for the predicament we’re in than anyone else on Earth. Of course, they haven’t acted alone. Rightwing politicians, plutocrats and bad actors like Vladimir Putin and the Saudi royal family have joined them in promoting denial, deflection, and delay.

News reporting will play a major role in driving the political change we need to keep global warming below catastrophic levels. It is well past the time for fence-sitting: media outlets must call out bad actors so there is a public penalty for their misdeeds.

It’s not just Murdoch either. More media groups should follow the Guardian’s example and decline to take money from the fossil fuel industry. The New York Times is a classic example of the corrupting influence of accepting fossil fuel money, having allowed BP as recently as 2022 to fund greenwashing podcasts with Times branding.

I have occasionally criticised media outlets – including the Guardian – for what I consider unhelpful doomism in their coverage. But, while we certainly must drive home the urgency of climate action, we also need the kind of coverage often seen in the Guardian that emphasises the agency that we have. Messages of despair can potentially lead people down the path of inaction rather than action.

It’s in that spirit of hope that I write to you today to support journalism that acknowledges the scale of the challenge ahead but also challenges political leaders to do more and share ideas for major systemic change.

Thank you
Michael E Mann

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Michael E Mann is the author of Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons From Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive The Climate Crisis and The New Climate War (available to buy here)

This summer, the Guardian’s environment team is looking at the devastating impact of extreme heat on people and nature around the world. Just one of many deeply reported projects helping readers to understand the daily impact of the climate crisis.

You can help fund reporting like this – and on so much more – by signing up to support our journalism today from just £4 a month or give just once from £1. No other major news organisation is more committed to putting the climate emergency at the centre of our reporting than the Guardian.