Aiming to make respective govts in enhancing action on climate change, Covering Climate Now launches ‘89 Percent Project'

Time of India

23-04-2025

BATHINDA:
Covering Climate Now
, a global collaborative initiative to improve climate coverage, launched 'The
89 Percent Project
', aiming to make people reach out to the respective governments in enhancing action on
climate change
.
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The 89 Percent Project is a year-long global journalistic initiative to explore a pivotal but little-known fact about climate change: the overwhelming majority of the world's people 80 to 89%, according to a slew of recent peer-reviewed studies-want their governments to take stronger action.
It has been found that this overwhelming majority does not realize it is a majority, perhaps because that fact is not reflected in most news coverage or on social media and in effect, it is a silent majority. The project aims to change that perception.
Covering Climate Now (CCNow) has announced to undertake a joint coverage week, till April 28, during which the news outlets around the world will join together to share news stories about climate change with an aim to collectively generate enough coverage that news of the 89% breaks through. Throughout the week, in daily dispatches, CCNow will share coverage highlights.
CCNow convenes and trains journalists and newsrooms to produce rigorous climate coverage that engages audiences and helps journalists produce more informative and appealing coverage of the climate crisis and its potential solutions.
The number 89% comes from scientific studies showing that between 80% and 89% of the world's population favors strong
government action on climate
. That number differs from country to country — in Brazil its 95%, in India its 80%, and in the US its 74% — but regardless of location, this huge yet silent climate majority flips the script on narratives of climate change as a niche concern and shows that most governments are profoundly out of step with the public on this issue.
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What is more, many in this silent climate majority don't realize that they're in the majority — that many of their neighbors and fellow citizens feel the same as they do — perhaps because they seldom see their views reflected in news coverage or on social media.
Under the initiative CCNow will elaborate who are the 89%, and how does this majority differ from country to country and state to state. What specific action does the people in this majority want their governments to take and are they aware that humanity has all the necessary tools to halt climate change right away, stories published during this Joint Coverage Week will tackle these questions and more, states CCNow.