Misinformation and disinformation are major threats to climate action.

Climate change misinformation and disinformation create a distorted perception of climate science and solutions; meanwhile they weaken the public mandate for effective domestic and international policies aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Universal definition

Problem & Solution

Our policy asks

Universal definition

Climate disinformation and misinformation refers to deceptive or misleading content that:

Undermines the existence or impacts of climate change, the unequivocal human influence on climate change, and the need for corresponding urgent action according to the IPCC scientific consensus and in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement;

Misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, in order to erode trust in climate science, climate-focused institutions, experts, and solutions; or

Falsely publicises efforts as supportive of climate goals that in fact contribute to climate warming or contravene the scientific consensus on mitigation or adaptation.

Problem

Disinformation distorts climate realities, weakens policy support, and threatens urgent action for a liveable future.

Climate change misinformation and disinformation are major threats to climate action. They create a distorted perception of climate science and solutions; meanwhile they weaken the public mandate for effective domestic and international policies aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Outright climate denial no longer has as much traction in mainstream media, but continues to flourish across social media, with algorithms often amplifying the worst and most extreme content. Discourses of climate delay also continue to pervade the mainstream media and social media platforms around topics such as net zero policy, and pose a real threat to implementing targets or agendas in line with the urgency of the threat. In parallel, digital advertising and monetisation through social media and the open web diversify opportunities to spread climate mis/disinformation – including ‘greenwashing’ – and, in many cases, create active financial incentives to do so.

More than 20 leading climate and anti-disinformation organisations established a global coalition in the summer of 2021, to safeguard public debate and mitigate information attacks against the COP26 summit. These efforts led to the creation of a universal definition of climate mis/disinformation; initiated a long-term process for decision makers to acknowledge the threat; spotlighted climate disinformation threats; provided insight for media outlets globally; and helped decision makers to understand the scale of the problem. It also inspired Google to roll out a global climate misinformation policy across all its monetised products and services including YouTube and to ban disinformation adverts that deny the existence of climate change or humanity’s impact on the climate. While good progress, these efforts were only the initial steps of what is needed to solve the problems detailed above.

In the fight against climate mis/disinformation and its impact on climate action, it’s essential for civil society to urge platforms, governments, and regulators to confront climate denial and delay narratives. Initial steps involve securing transparency and recognition of misinformation on platforms, alongside advocating for supportive international and national legislation.

The next two years will see pivotal moments amplifying climate disinformation, including the COP28 summit, key elections, significant IPCC reports, updated NDC announcements, and climate financing milestones. Encouragingly, there’s potential for robust policies from governments and tech platforms, building upon the progress already achieved, and necessitating collective efforts to push for increased and effective measures against climate mis/disinformation.

Solution

Driving transparency, global cooperation, and policy initiatives to combat climate disinformation's harmful effects.

Our Policy Asks

Governments should encourage social media, advertising technology, and broadcast and publishing companies to take these steps:

Acknowledge climate disinformation as a major threat damaging the information ecosystem, hindering climate action and policy, risking public safety and health and further widening societal and political divides.

Adopt the below universal definition of climate disinformation as deceptive or misleading online behaviour that:

Undermines public understanding of the existence or impacts of climate change, the unequivocal human influence on climate change, and the need for corresponding urgent action to reduce global warming emissions (mitigation) and prepare for the current impacts and those we must expect (adaptation), according to the IPCC scientific consensus and in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement;
Misrepresents scientific data, including by omission or cherry-picking, to erode trust in climate science, climate-focused institutions, experts, and solutions; or
Falsely publicizes efforts as supportive of climate goals that in fact contribute to climate warming or contravene the scientific consensus on mitigation or adaptation, including greenwashing.

Produce, publicize and resource a transparent company plan to stop the spread of climate disinformation.

Produce, publicize and resource a transparent company plan to stop the spread of climate disinformation including these elements:

Community content standards with accompanying monitoring and evaluation indicators.
An enforcement mechanism for violation of these standards, including downranking.
A plan to monitor and respond in all languages in which the company hosts content.
An up-to-date, publicly accessible, and functional ad library that captures all paid ads, including political and issue-based ads.
An explanation of any fact-checking processes.
A user-support system for flagging content that violates community content standards, and a commitment to respond to users
Strong labor standards for content moderation work.

Report on the prevalence of climate disinformation on their products and services.

Report on the prevalence of climate disinformation on their products and services, including (but not limited to): coordinated information operations, including those orchestrated by or affiliated with the fossil fuel lobby; repeat offender activity from commercial disinformers, media outlets and other high-traction or ‘verified’ accounts, state-sponsored influence efforts and interference; and the enforcement of content moderation policies on their services.

Allow researchers access to all data needed to conduct research and prevent the monetisation of climate disinformation.

Allow researchers access to all data needed to conduct research that contributes to the detection, identification and understanding of systemic climate disinformation risks, as well as to the assessment of adequacy, efficiency and impacts of risk mitigation measures taken.

Prevent the monetisation of climate disinformation, ensuring that tech companies do not profit from hosting or amplifying such content, and weakening the financial incentive for disinformer networks. Mitigation efforts should detail: advertisements, ad tech tools and placements; revenue-sharing schemes with content creators;; merchandising; and any other monetised activity on their products and services.

Implement platform-wide inoculation efforts to expose mis- and disinformation.

Implement platform-wide inoculation efforts to expose mis- and disinformation to increase the resilience of users to false or misleading content, and prioritize scientifically credible content Companies should provide regular and transparent reporting on the effectiveness of these measures to regulators.

Implement strong labor policies for content moderation staff.

Implement strong labor policies for content moderation staff, including fair pay, clear contracts, accessible mental health/counseling services, sustainable working conditions, and union representation.

Produce and enforce transparency, safety, equity, and accountability measures related to company use of AI and other emerging technologies.

Produce and enforce transparency, safety, equity, and accountability measures related to company use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, especially regarding the potential to accelerate the spread of climate-specific and other disinformation, and increased energy use.