Global Efforts Against Climate Disinformation Gain Momentum Despite US Policy Setbacks

Despite the US government’s apparent alignment with fossil fuel industry interests in climate policy, there are encouraging signs that the global community is increasingly recognizing the twin crises of climate change and related disinformation campaigns. While scientific consensus on human-caused climate change remains overwhelming—with 99% of peer-reviewed literature supporting it—the battle against coordinated disinformation efforts continues.

The fight against climate change disinformation is gaining traction worldwide, with three key developments offering hope for progress.

International organizations are demonstrating unprecedented clarity about the interconnected threats facing humanity. The World Economic Forum’s 2024-2025 Global Risks Perception Survey, which collects insights from 900 global experts, identifies misinformation and disinformation as the most significant short-term risks, while extreme weather and critical Earth system changes represent the greatest long-term concerns.

Similarly, the United Nations released its first Global Risk Report in June 2025, revealing remarkable alignment with the WEF findings. Both reports highlight climate impacts and technology-driven risks like disinformation as primary global threats.

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change has explicitly noted how “climate misinformation practices through advertising have become a profit-making activity thanks to a revenue-sharing model with big tech.” This growing recognition that corporate interests are simultaneously polluting both information and physical ecosystems for profit represents a significant step toward addressing these interlinked problems.

Regional and national regulatory frameworks are beginning to emerge as a second source of hope. With over 5 billion social media users worldwide spending an average of 2 hours and 21 minutes daily on these platforms, and Google processing 8.5 billion search requests daily, the need for digital regulation has become critical.

The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) is now being implemented, imposing standards for transparency and accountability on tech platforms. While not specifically targeting climate disinformation, the DSA addresses broader misinformation risks and has already resulted in fines for major companies like Meta and Apple, with X (formerly Twitter) under investigation.

In a landmark October 2025 ruling, Meta was found in violation of regulations for customizing users’ recommendation feeds based on personal data. A Dutch judge ordered the company to allow users to easily opt out of profiled recommendation systems without reverting to personalization each time they close Facebook or Instagram apps.

Other jurisdictions are following suit. New Zealand has enacted the Harmful Digital Communications Act, while the UK and Australia have implemented Online Safety Acts. Brazil passed ECA Digital in September, and three US states—California, Utah, and New York—have enacted laws protecting user privacy and limiting harmful content exposure.

Governmental inquiries specifically addressing climate disinformation are also underway. Australia has established a Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy, while in the US, Senator Whitehouse and Representative Raskin led a bicameral inquiry into Big Oil’s climate disinformation, publishing their findings in 2024.

The third promising development is the emergence of multilateral initiatives specifically targeting climate disinformation. At the 2024 G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, the UN, UNESCO, and the Brazilian government launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, already joined by nations across Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

This initiative aims to strengthen climate action through a comprehensive approach that includes education, independent research, and policy development to support media independence, public resilience to disinformation, and human rights-based policies. Recognizing historical inequities in information integrity work, the initiative prioritized Global South projects in its first funding call, receiving 319 eligible proposals, nearly two-thirds from developing regions.

For the first time, information integrity has been placed on the agenda at major climate forums, including preparatory meetings in Bonn for COP30, the UN General Assembly Climate Summit in September 2025, and as a cross-cutting objective for COP30 in Belém, Brazil, responding to UN Secretary-General Guterres’ call to combat “mis- and disinformation, online harassment, and greenwashing.”

The collaboration between fossil fuel companies and technology platforms has historically undermined climate science and delayed action. Having already missed a key Paris Agreement target, nations and international institutions must now confront these powerful corporate interests that are preventing effective climate action.

Public opinion research shows most people worldwide support climate progress but remain unaware that their neighbors share similar views. As world leaders prepare to gather in Belém, there is growing optimism that meaningful action to protect both information integrity and planetary health may finally be gaining the momentum needed for substantive change.