What is misinformation & disinformation

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.

Solution

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

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.

Our Policy Asks

Climate disinformation is a fundamental threat to the global democratic and science-based movements to stop climate change. The information environment across the globe, in which climate policies are decided, is under threat from powerful interest groups that aim to deny climate change, prevent action, harass scientists, and greenwash false solutions.

These groups—which include the fossil fuel industry and authoritarian governments—are being given an unfair, opaque, and disproportionate amount of power via our information ecosystems, allowing the climate-denying few to be louder than the climate-concerned majority. To pass strong climate policies and strengthen information integrity, we must change the fundamental structures, business models, and incentives that create unsafe, unfair, and opaque communications systems.