Fossil Fuel Ad Restrictions and COP Commitments Signal Shift Against Climate Misinformation

In a significant shift, 2025 has emerged as a pivotal year in combating climate disinformation, with new international agreements, research initiatives, and local policies gaining traction globally against what experts describe as “climate obstruction.”

For decades, false and misleading information about climate change has proliferated across social media platforms, deliberately sowing doubt and delaying meaningful action. Anti-disinformation advocates note that tactics have evolved beyond outright climate science denial to include more sophisticated approaches – from exaggerated warnings about economic disaster to corporate greenwashing that rebrands major polluters as environmental champions.

A recent assessment of the disinformation landscape reveals both the extensive reach and substantial financial backing behind these efforts. “Fossil fuel and allied corporations and wealthy individuals use various channels to seek and achieve policy outcomes that favour their fortunes,” the assessment states. These channels comprise a comprehensive network including media ownership, lobbying firms, campaign donations, advocacy groups, trade organizations, think tanks, and university funding.

The primary targets are both decision-makers and the general public, with messaging designed to undermine confidence in renewable energy and other climate solutions. The ultimate objective, according to researchers, is “to achieve delays in rule-making, weak regulations, and postponement of the transition away from their products and practices.”

However, 2025 has marked what many advocates describe as a turning point. Philip Newell, communications co-chair for Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), a global coalition of over 90 organizations, told The Energy Mix that “the jaws of policy are closing on the disinformation industry.” He highlighted grassroots movements successfully banning fossil fuel advertisements in several cities, demonstrating a groundswell of public demand “for action from the bottom up.”

The momentum extends to major international institutions as well. At last year’s COP30 climate summit in Belém, nicknamed “The COP of Truth,” UNESCO partnered with the Brazilian government and the United Nations to launch the Global Initiative on Information Integrity on Climate Change. This program aims to investigate, expose, and dismantle climate disinformation networks. CAAD notes that this initiative builds upon its own Climate Information Integrity Summit held in Brazil earlier that year.

Experts emphasize the crucial distinction between misinformation and disinformation. As explained on a recent episode of the Optimism and Outrage podcast, misinformation occurs when information is simply misunderstood or poorly conveyed, while disinformation involves “willful misleading for a specific objective.” The podcast discussion highlighted how disinformation has gained momentum through a combination of political motivations, algorithms that exploit human behavior patterns, and economic models that profit from attracting attention through division and distrust.

Former UN climate secretary Christiana Figueres offered insight into why disinformation proves effective, noting on the podcast that humans aren’t “stupid” for falling for falsehoods. Rather, in today’s information-saturated environment, people tend to “optimize the information that we receive for: how much attention are we paying to it? Not: how truthful is it?”

Jake Dubbins, Managing Director at Media Bounty, pointed to economic incentives driving disinformation. “You should in a free country, with respect to freedom and expression, be able to say unpopular things, things that people might be offended by, and so on,” said Dubbins. But “you don’t have a right to algorithmic promotion of your racism or your climate denial.” He emphasized there’s no human right to profit from spreading disinformation.

Several significant publications in 2025 have helped illuminate the scope of the problem. A report by the International Panel on the Information Environment identifies multiple culprits spreading climate disinformation, including fossil fuel companies, technology firms, utilities, governments, “fake experts,” and even educational institutions and researchers. An accompanying e-book explores how disinformation tactics have been deployed specifically to obstruct effective climate action.

Newell described these publications as providing “a vital and unique” perspective grounded in peer-reviewed research. One striking finding reveals that while 89% of the global population desires stronger political action on climate change, the policymaking process has been undermined “with disinformation that Big Tech has been all too willing to profit off, broadcasting to their audience to make it feel like climate denial is more popular than it really is.”

For concerned citizens seeking positive developments, Newell points to actions by international policymakers, such as Spain’s recent designation of climate disinformation as a “top priority.” At the local level, he highlights successful initiatives like fossil fuel advertising bans recently implemented in Florence, Italy and Amsterdam as models that could be replicated elsewhere.