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Climate Summit Faces Unprecedented Wave of Disinformation as Fossil Fuel Interests Push Back
A staggering 267% surge in climate disinformation ahead of this year’s UN climate summit in Brazil threatens to undermine global efforts to transition away from fossil fuels, according to a new report released today.
The research, conducted by the Coalition Against Climate Disinformation (CAAD) and the Observatory for Information Integrity (OII), documented more than 14,000 examples of COP-related false information between July and September alone. These coordinated campaigns come despite polling showing that over 80% of people worldwide support stronger climate action.
“Big Carbon’s spending and Big Tech’s algorithms are preventing us from seeing and hearing one another online. Instead, we’re exposed to one lie after another,” CAAD stated in the report.
One particularly concerning example highlighted by researchers involved a fabricated video showing Belem, the Amazonian city hosting COP30, completely submerged underwater. OII confirmed that the AI-generated clip featured non-existent reporters, people, and flooding scenarios, yet it gained significant traction across social media platforms.
The timing of this disinformation surge coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to power and his aggressive dismantling of climate and renewable energy programs. Since taking office in January, Trump has used social media to amplify unfounded claims about renewable energy, including assertions that wind turbines cause cancer and kill whales.
Trump has issued executive orders aimed at “unleashing” what he terms “affordable and reliable” fossil fuel energy, while falsely claiming that renewable energy causes job losses and higher energy costs that “devastate” consumers. These claims directly contradict established economic data showing that solar and wind energy now provide the world’s cheapest electricity, with clean energy investments creating three times as many jobs per dollar as fossil fuel projects.
“The Trump administration is employing a well-worn disinformation playbook, resurfacing outright denial tactics that were the fossil fuel industry’s favored approach in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She noted that the industry has adapted tobacco companies’ tactics of “manufacturing uncertainty about climate science and blocking climate, clean energy, and clean transportation policies.”
UN climate summits have become prime targets for fossil fuel interests seeking to delay the energy transition. Last year’s COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, saw more than 1,770 fossil fuel lobbyists granted access—outnumbering all but three country delegations. In 2023, researchers revealed that fossil fuel companies paid Meta up to $5 million (€4.3 million) for climate disinformation ads ahead of COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, with Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and TotalEnergies accounting for 98% of that spending.
As concerns grow that the world has already missed the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a coordinated response to combat disinformation is emerging. The Brazil-led Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change will, for the first time at any UN climate summit, be included in the official COP30 agenda. The initiative aims to fund research, investigative journalism, and climate communications campaigns that counter contrarian viewpoints and amplify climate science and solutions.
“We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres when launching the initiative at the G20 summit in November 2024.
The initiative represents the kind of civic engagement needed to combat climate falsehoods, according to Ece Elbeyi, consulting scientist at the Scientific Panel on Information Integrity about Climate Science. Meanwhile, CAAD is calling on media organizations and tech platforms to screen “harmful false content” and maintain transparency about the sources of disinformation.
The impact of climate disinformation extends beyond the U.S. Following Trump’s election victory, instances of climate deception in French media tripled in the first eight months of 2025, according to research co-authored by climate NGO QuotaClimat.
At a time when nations are set to produce over double the fossil fuels in 2030 that would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C, transparent climate science communication is crucial. COP30 represents an “unprecedented opportunity” to facilitate “coordinated global action to tackle disinformation,” according to Mulvey.
Eliesio Marubo, activist and legal counsel for Union of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil’s Javari Valley, offered a straightforward assessment: “I don’t like the term ‘fake news,'” he said. “It ends up legitimizing something that isn’t news at all. I prefer to call it what it really is: a lie.”
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10 Comments
This report highlights the scale of the challenge we face. The fossil fuel industry will stop at nothing to protect their profits, even if it means spreading disinformation that harms the planet. We can’t let them win.
Precisely. We need to hold these companies and platforms accountable for enabling the spread of these lies.
The fabricated video of Belem underwater is a particularly egregious example of the lengths these groups will go to sow doubt. We need strong safeguards to prevent the rapid spread of AI-generated disinformation on social media.
Absolutely. Platforms must do more to detect and remove this type of manipulated content before it can gain traction.
I’m curious to learn more about the specific tactics and funding sources behind these coordinated disinformation campaigns. Understanding the mechanics will be key to developing effective countermeasures.
Good point. Transparency around the origins and motivations behind this misinformation is crucial.
It’s disheartening to see over 80% public support for climate action being undermined by a small but vocal minority. We must redouble our efforts to elevate the scientific consensus and push for meaningful policy change.
Well said. The public overwhelmingly supports climate action, we just need our leaders to follow through.
Concerning to see such a surge in climate disinformation ahead of this important summit. Fossil fuel interests seem increasingly desperate to undermine climate action. We must stay vigilant and call out these coordinated campaigns to spread falsehoods.
Agreed. It’s critical that we rely on credible, science-based sources and fact-checking to cut through the misinformation.