Am I a hypocrite? In order to put this magazine together, I flew.

Am I a hypocrite? In order to put this magazine together, I flew halfway across the world, contributing to the very problem--climate change--that is threatening the Arctic's future. Some of my colleagues felt that I shouldn't have gone: it caused a heated discussion in the New Internationalist Co-op while I was planning my trip. They felt that the flight wasn't justified and that we risked losing our readers' respect.

But what is the alternative? Could I have written with accuracy about this extraordinarily remote, unimaginably different part of the world if I had never set foot in it? More importantly, how can we fulfil our mission to tell the stories that are ignored and bring out the voices that seldom get heard if we do not, from time to time, venture off the beaten track to find them?

It's a painful dilemma for anyone who is paying attention to the scale of the climate crisis--especially those of us who work on international issues. Here at the NI we will continue to wrestle with it. Don't worry, we're still all speaking to each other--but we'd love to know where you stand.

While I was breaking every rule in the Good Climate Citizen's handbook, thankfully our Australian co-editor was Doing The Right Thing. Chris Richards attempted to survive without using her car. You can find out how she fared in this month's Special Feature.

Finally, to help you through the busy summer months we've combined the July and August magazines. We're delighted to include a special supplement we've put together with Book Aid International. It contains inspiring tales of how books are changing lives across the Majority World, and a heart-warming short story from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Enjoy!

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Jess Worth for the New Internationalist Co-operative