Turning climate commitments into real-world action

As the Climate Action Agenda expanded rapidly in scope, ambition, and delivery, the Climate Change High-Level Champions sought to ensure their communications kept pace – remaining  relevant for a broad and evolving global audience. Representing a broad ecosystem of non-state actors — including business, Indigenous Peoples, civil society, and cities, the Champions’ editorial needed to reflect this diversity effectively while remaining accessible, relevant, and trusted.

Following the landmark COP26 summit in Glasgow, UK, audience analysis highlighted an opportunity to broaden engagement beyond the Global North – to better reflect delivery across the Global South. At the same time, competition for attention was intensifying, reinforcing the importance of clear, compelling storytelling that connected ambition to action.

Operating within a UN framework naturally brought a high volume of activity, specialised language, and institutional processes, which also required careful editorial navigation to remain accessible to mainstream audiences. 

The editorial challenge was therefore to reignite audience growth, cut through complexity, and rebalance relevance towards a genuinely global constituency.

Audience research showed that stakeholders were most engaged by trusted voices with real-world experience — particularly practitioners delivering solutions on adaptation, resilience, and implementation. In response, editorial strategy was refined to emphasise systems change through practical delivery, grounded in evidence and real-world experience. The tone was deliberately forward-looking and empowering, spotlighting progress and possibility while maintaining rigour and credibility. 

Editorial focus shifted toward voices from across the Climate Action Agenda, with expanded coverage of Climate Weeks in regions such as Africa and Latin America. Particular emphasis was also placed on elevating Indigenous leadership and priorities, including articulating the case for direct access to climate finance, through op-eds, and interviews. 

To broaden appeal, a programme of guest interviews was introduced, featuring city conveners, Indigenous leaders, business figureheads, and sportspeople — each explaining climate action through their own lens and community impact. This human-centred approach helped demystify climate action while reinforcing the Champions’ role as a platform for delivery across sectors and geographies.

The refreshed editorial approach delivered sustained growth and impact. Newsletter subscribers increased by 275%, from 12,000 in 2023 to over 45,000 by 2026, with 132,000 reads and a high 15% engagement rate in 2025 alone.

During the annual COP climate summits, editorial output pivoted to a concise daily Top of the COP format, meeting the demand of stakeholders, especially media, for breaking news on outcomes from the Action Agenda. During COP30, for example, Top of the COP received 82,000 reads.

Overall, this work expanded geographic reach, diversified voices and audiences, and strengthened the Champions’ position as a trusted global platform for climate implementation.