Environmental blogs come in many shapes and sizes. In this post, we’ve pulled the best of them together for you.
We think this is the most interesting collection of green blogs on the internet. Over 70 of them across a range of fields and approaches to do with the environment and sustainability.
‘General’ environmental blogs
To start with here are some distinctive green blogs that post articles across a wide range of issues to do with the environment and sustainability –
(Yep, that’s us. We’re small but aiming to be amongst the best.)
Progressive / online magazines
Here are broader online media platforms with specialist environmental sections –
Traditional / mainstream magazines
These big publishing powerhouses have an environment section –
News blogs
Big news services, of course, do stories on the environment. As well as straight news, some have interesting environmental blogs and commentary that compliments their environmental news –
Science
There are some specialist online science mags that have environmental sections. These are some of the more notable –
Scientific American (sustainability)
Scientific American (earth & environment)
Academic
Following are blogs based in academia and academic research.
Some key universities with environmental institutes that have blogs include –
Columbia University’s Earth Institute
The most notable academic journal is –
The Conversation is written by academics but designed to be more like an online magazine – to appeal to a wider audience. Here’s their environment section by region –
If you’re after a very specific topic you can also search for academic papers in Google Scholar.
Advocacy
A number of the major environmental advocacy groups have their own blogs –
Natural Resources Defence Council
Now to the niches. Here are the best environmental blogs by different field –
Architecture, Building and Design
Business
Cities
Global Designing Cities Initiative
Climate
Conservation
Cycling
Energy
Food
Legal
Lifestyle
Oceans
Outdoors
The Cleanest Line (Patagonia’s blog)
Pop
Writers
Finally, there are some great writers who have dedicated themselves to regularly posting about serious environmental matters. Here are our favourites. These guys have their own blog or they write commentary for respected media outlets –
How we selected these environmental blogs
What are the best environmental blogs in the world? It’s hard to pin down definitively.
For a start, there are many facets to the environment and sustainability. And many blogs that focus on a particular niche – on areas like climate, business, design, and food.
Then you need to consider online magazines. There are many good ones that are progressive in their slant (like Upworthy.) Or more mainstream – like National Geographic. Plus there are some major science platforms like Scientific American. All these media platforms have separate environmental sections. Whilst they’re still essentially media platforms, their environmental sections often have a blog look and feel to them.
Add to the mix other ways of considering green blogs. Like the big advocacy groups (like Greenpeace) with their own commentary-type blogs and academic institutions (like Yale) with research-based blogs.
Layered on top of all this is the thorny issue of what makes a ‘best environmental blog’ anyway?
The simple factors we used included: Are they well regarded? Are they well written? Are they based on solid research? Are they ongoing (i.e. they haven’t suddenly stopped?) Are they just plain interesting?
We’ve had a really good go at pulling together the best of them below. We’ve done it by doing a fair bit of research and by asking for recommendations from environmental leaders and our own green connections.
It’s not an exact science, we know. If you have recommendations please let us know – by posting in the Comments. We welcome genuine suggestions.
Best environmental blogs – your say
Have we missed anyone? You can post a name or link to a great environmental blog in the Comments below. (We’re not after self-promotion here! Genuine suggestions welcome.)
Economists and environmentalists have urged policymakers for years to increase the price of activities that emit greenhouse gases (one of our biggest environmental problems), the lack of which constitutes the largest market failure, for example through carbon taxes, which will stimulate innovations in low-carbon technologies.
To cut emissions quickly and effectively enough, governments must not only massively increase funding for green innovation to bring down the costs of low-carbon energy sources, but they also need to adopt a range of other policies that address each of the other market failures.
Further, organisations such as the United Nations are not fit to deal with the climate crisis: it was assembled to prevent another world war and is not fit for purpose. Anyway, members of the UN are not mandated to comply with any suggestions or recommendations made by the organisation. For example, the Paris Agreement, an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, says that countries need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly so that global temperature rise is below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100, and ideally under 1.5 degrees. But signing on to it is voluntary, and there are no real repercussions for non-compliance. Further, the issue of equity remains a contentious issue whereby developing countries are allowed to emit more in order to develop to the point where they can develop technologies to emit less, and it allows some countries, such as China, to exploit this.
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