David Gelles

David Gelles covers climate change for The New York Times with a focus on how money, corporate power and government policy shape the pace and direction of the climate crisis. He reports on the big structural forces behind warming - from corporate climate pledges and data centers to philanthropy and politics - and leads the Climate Forward newsletter and events series that connects individual stories to the larger arc of climate risk and opportunity. His work draws heavily on years of business reporting, giving his climate coverage an unusually clear view of who holds power, how they use it and what that means for the planet.

Climate Forward and the Wide-Angle View of Climate Change

Gelles plays a central role in Climate Forward, The Times’s climate newsletter, where he regularly frames the week’s developments in energy, weather and policy for a broad readership. Recent editions range from “A City With a Plan,” about Cincinnati’s effort to prepare for climate migrants and European fires, to “Europe’s Heat Wave Has the ‘Fingerprints of Climate Change All Over It,’” which connects extreme heat to attribution science and impacts across the continent. He has used the newsletter to explain how geopolitical shocks, such as the war in Iran, ripple through global energy prices and supply chains in pieces like “How a Deal to End the War in Iran Could Affect Energy Prices.”

Other installments look at technological and industrial shifts, including “The New ‘Gold Rush’ of Geothermal Energy,” “When Will Emissions From Air Travel Start to Fall?” and coverage of the “Long-Term Plan to Scrub Carbon From the Sky,” in which he walks readers through emerging decarbonization strategies and their limits. Across these pieces he moves between science, economics and politics, treating climate change as a system problem rather than a narrow environmental story.

Corporate Climate Commitments and the Nexus With Government

A defining thread in Gelles’s coverage is the scrutiny he brings to corporate climate commitments and their interaction with public policy. In “How to Abandon Your Climate Commitments and Get Away With It,” he documents how major consumer brands and other companies have quietly diluted, delayed or discarded ambitious environmental pledges once the costs and operational challenges became clear, even after making public promises about recyclable materials and net-zero emissions.

His reporting describes how changes in measurement, extended timelines and shifting corporate narratives have allowed businesses to step back from earlier goals while presenting an image of continued progress. The climate desk announcement for his current role emphasizes that he covers the nexus between government and the private sector, examining corporate influence on climate action at federal, state and local levels and distinguishing companies that are serious about reducing emissions from those that are merely posing. In interviews and public conversations, Gelles is described as bringing years of business reporting experience to questions about ESG reporting, corporate responsibility and the cultural pressures companies face when disclosing climate risks.

That background shows up in his work as he tracks corporate lobbying, financial sector behavior and the retreat from climate initiatives in response to changing political winds.

Climate Politics, Philanthropy and Public Opinion

Gelles often situates climate change within the shifting terrain of politics, philanthropy and public opinion. In Climate Forward editions like “The Shifting Politics of Climate Change,” he highlights polling that suggests parts of the Republican electorate may be more open to climate action than conventional wisdom holds, and he pairs that with reporting on messaging strategies and legislative fights. He has written about “How Should Democrats Talk About Climate Change?” focusing on how party leaders frame the issue amid competing priorities and voter concerns.

His newsletter piece “An Influx of Climate Cash” examines the state of climate philanthropy, noting that many donors are stepping back while a small number are committing very large sums, a dynamic that concentrates influence and raises questions about strategy and accountability.

Other installments track local and national battles over infrastructure and land use, such as “The Movement to Stop Data Centers” and “A Data Center Backlash,” which explore conflicts over A.I.-driven development, energy demand and environmental impacts in places like Pennsylvania and Illinois. He has also reported on extreme weather and its interpretation by scientists and policymakers, including “The Weather Is Getting Wilder, and Some See a Dire Signal in the Data” and “For Earth Day, a Few Signs of Hope for Our Planet,” combining warnings about accelerating risks with examples of technological and policy progress.

Business Reporting Roots and Authorial Work

Before joining The Times’s climate team, Gelles spent eight years as a business reporter at the paper, where he covered chief executives, technology, media and Wall Street and wrote the Corner Office column from 2018 to 2022. Prior to that, he was a reporter for the Financial Times, covering business from New York and San Francisco.

That long exposure to corporate leadership and financial markets informs his climate beat, which frequently interrogates boardroom decisions, shareholder pressures and the credibility of corporate sustainability strategies.

Outside daily reporting, he has written books on corporate behavior and capitalism, and his social media profile identifies him as a climate reporter at The New York Times and the author of a forthcoming work on Yvon Chouinard and a previous bestseller on the pitfalls of modern capitalism. Taken together, his business and authorial background gives his climate journalism a distinctive emphasis on accountability - asking not only what policies and technologies are emerging, but who benefits, who pays and how sincere the institutions in charge actually are.