Fresh name, logo and front page but same commitment to quality journalism and coverage of global climate politics
By Ed King
Today you may notice RTCC has changed. We are now called Climate Home, with a new logo, website and updated mobile platforms.
Since launching in November 2011, our audience has grown fast, drawing in readers from the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Little wonder. Climate change and efforts to address it is one of the world’s most compelling stories, yet one that many larger media groups have ignored.
As the planet prepares for its hottest year on record, and the prospect of a new UN agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, we felt it was time to reflect on our own development.
Based on helpful feedback from our partners and many of our readers we felt a change of name would be a positive first step to boosting the site’s profile.
In a sector bedevilled by complex acronyms, having one as your name always seemed an unnecessary complication – hence the change to Climate Home.
We’re the home of global climate politics coverage, and we now have a name to mirror that ambition.
You’ll also notice the front page has changed. Many readers said they felt the old one was too cluttered and messy.
The new one offers a clearer sense of the top breaking news stories, while allowing us to focus on specific sectors of interest such as the UN climate talks or the stranded assets debate further down the page.
In time we’ll also improve our Climate Change TV site, to allow better access to the vast amount of rich content we have filmed in the past four years.
New dawn
While this year’s Paris climate summit may seem to some like the end of the journey – in reality it’s just the start of a global push to move away from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy.
Moving forward we will continually seek to improve our news coverage, drawing on the team in London and a skilled set of reporters in Delhi, Islamabad, Moscow and beyond.
If you haven’t followed Olga Dobrovidova’s permafrost diaries from the heart of Siberia I’d urge you to take a look.
We are also trialling newer elements, such as Sunday’s Climate Crib Notes and the fortnightly Emissions Factor Podcast.
As ever I’d welcome your feedback on our new look, together with any other suggestions on how we can improve. Email me at [email protected] or send me a tweet @edking_CH.
Finally – some praise is due for our web developer Thet Htoo Aung, who has worked day and night to get us up to speed (go to bed now Thet).
Thanks should also go to our sponsors and partners who keep us in business. Your support is – as ever – hugely appreciated.