Most voters want bold climate policy, but politicians often don’t realise it. The 89 Percent Project is designed to make that public support impossible to ignore
Some of the world’s most respected newsrooms have united in a global climate reporting drive to amplify the voices of the ‘silent majority’ who care about the environment – and to show them they’re not as alone as they might think.
Research shows that 89% of people worldwide want governments to take stronger action on climate change, yet many hesitate to speak up, wrongly believing they are in the minority.
Covering Climate Now (CCN), a global initiative dedicated to improving climate journalism, has launched The 89 Percent Project in an effort to challenge the misconception.
“For the world’s news media, this narrative not only is new – most reporters had no idea that public support for climate action is so high – it also reframes the climate conversation away from one of division and retreat toward one of possibility and common purpose,” said CCN co-founder Mark Hertsgaard.
Academics point to a mental barrier known as ‘pluralistic ignorance’ – the false belief that our own views are not widely held – as one reason people stay silent on the climate debate. “The lack of public discussion reinforces the norm that others are not concerned and hampers the likelihood of collective organisation,” wrote psychologist Cynthia Frantz, introducing a 2022 study on the topic.
More recently, researchers from Germany and Denmark polled 130,000 people across 125 countries and found over two-thirds would be willing to contribute 1% of their personal income to climate causes.
Research shows that 89% of people globally want governments to take stronger action on the climate. Image: Oatawa
“Raising awareness about the broad global support for climate action becomes critically important in promoting a unified response to climate change,” they concluded.
That’s where The 89 Percent Project comes in. News outlets backing the initiative include some of the biggest names in journalism. The Guardian, Time magazine, Reuters and Al Jazeera are just a few of the organisations on board.
It reframes the climate conversation away from one of division and retreat toward one of possibility and common purpose
“The fact that there is a massive global majority in favour of climate action struck us, from a journalistic standpoint, as a great news story,” says Hertsgaard, who covers the environment for New York-based monthly magazine The Nation. “That is, it told people something important they didn’t already know about the world around them.”
Since its launch on Earth Day in April, stories published under the 89 Percent banner have reached a combined audience of hundreds of millions of people, Hertsgaard said, adding that the project continues up to Cop30 in November, and beyond.
“What can individuals do?” Hertsgaard asks. “One really useful thing is to share these stories with as many other people as possible, including their political leaders. It turns out that most government officials also don’t know a strong majority favours climate action.”
Main image: SolStock
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