Turning Ad Space Into Climate News

Climate change is making fewer and fewer headlines.

Globally, climate journalism has declined by 38%, according to MeCCO. In Denmark, new research conducted by Verian (Gallup) for Danish energy group Andel points to an even steeper decline: climate coverage has fallen by 57% since it peaked in 2021.

There are many possible explanations, and the reality is undoubtedly more nuanced than any single statistic can capture. But the development raises an important question: What happens when one of the defining issues of our time moves further down the editorial agenda?

Andel is responding in a creative way. Rather than using advertising space to talk about itself, the company is using it to create more room for climate journalism.

Andel is funding independent climate journalism and making advertising and front-page space available across some of Denmark’s largest newspapers for the remainder of the year. The journalism itself remains independent, with editorial decisions left to the journalists and editors.

The initiative effectively turns paid media into space for journalism – using advertising to draw attention not only to climate change, but to the decline in media coverage surrounding it.

The creative concept has been developed and executed by Robert/Boisen & Like-minded together with Andel, illustrators and climate journalists, and has already sparked considerable attention and discussion in Denmark.

At Goodrel, we have been supporting the initiative with PR.

For us, the interesting part goes beyond the campaign itself. It is an example of how a creative idea can enter a much bigger conversation about media, attention and climate – and perhaps use the mechanisms of advertising to create space for a subject that is receiving less of it.

Can the initiative solve the decline in climate journalism itself? Of course not. But can a clever creative idea make us notice that decline, talk about it and perhaps reconsider what deserves our attention? That is a conversation worth having.

See the full campaign film with the independent climate journalists here.

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