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In a troubling trend leading up to the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, researchers have documented an alarming surge in climate disinformation across social media platforms. A new report from Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) and the Observatory for Information Integrity reveals a 267% spike in COP-related disinformation between July and September alone.
The study found over 14,000 instances where keywords related to the global conference appeared alongside negative descriptors such as “disaster,” “joke,” “catastrophe,” and “failure.” This organized campaign appears designed to undermine public confidence in climate action at a critical moment for international cooperation.
“Deny, Deceive, Delay: Demystified exposes big carbon and big tech’s grand illusion that makes us underestimate public support for climate action,” explained Philip Newell, CAAD communications co-chair. “They want to make us feel like the battle is over, despite the fact that not only is it still happening, but we may just be winning, because of progress that is being made all over the world.”
High-profile figures have contributed to this misinformation ecosystem. Former U.S. President Donald Trump recently described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” while influential podcaster Joe Rogan told his millions of listeners that the Earth is actually in a cooling period – claims that contradict the overwhelming scientific consensus.
The researchers documented particularly concerning examples of AI-generated disinformation. In one instance highlighted by the Observatory for Information Integrity, artificially created footage depicted a flooded Belém, the Brazilian city hosting COP30. “The reporter doesn’t exist, the people don’t exist, the flood doesn’t exist, and the city doesn’t exist,” the researchers noted. Yet the fabricated content generated significant engagement and angry comments against climate action across platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.
Other deceptive content included videos falsely presented as current footage from Belém that were actually filmed elsewhere or recycled from two years ago.
The report identifies two primary culprits behind this wave of disinformation: fossil fuel companies and tech platforms. During last year’s COP28, CAAD documented that energy giants including Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies spent up to $5 million on Facebook climate ads that researchers classified as disinformation. These four companies accounted for 98% of such advertising.
Meanwhile, technology companies stand accused of failing to adequately address the spread of climate falsehoods on their platforms. “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 their findings.
The problem extends beyond corporate interests. At a preparatory meeting for COP30 earlier this year, Charlotte Scaddan, the UN’s Senior Advisor for Information Integrity, pointed to state actors as contributors to the disinformation landscape. “These climate disinformation agents are trying to undermine climate action,” she warned. “They are also weaponizing the issue to fuel social polarization and destabilize democratic processes, including elections. This directly impacts multiple areas of UN engagement.”
In response to these growing threats, the Brazilian government, United Nations, and UNESCO launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change last year. This program provides funding for research and promotes information accuracy on climate issues.
UNESCO director general Audrey Azoulay emphasized the initiative’s importance: “Through this initiative, we will support the journalists and researchers investigating climate issues, sometimes at great risk to themselves, and fight the climate-related disinformation running rampant on social media.”
As world leaders gather in Brazil for COP30, the battle against climate disinformation represents a critical front in addressing the climate crisis itself. The spread of false information threatens to undermine public support for necessary climate action at precisely the moment when international cooperation is most urgently needed.
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12 Comments
I’m curious to learn more about the specific tactics and techniques used by big tech and fossil fuel companies to spread this misinformation. Understanding their playbook is key to fighting back effectively.
Good point. Transparency around these deceptive practices is crucial so we can develop better countermeasures and hold bad actors accountable.
This report highlights the urgent need for greater media literacy and critical thinking when it comes to online information, especially around complex issues like climate change.
Absolutely. Equipping the public with the tools to identify and resist misinformation should be a top priority for policymakers and educators.
The spike in climate disinformation is deeply concerning. We must redouble our efforts to elevate trusted, science-based voices and counter these organized campaigns of deception.
Agreed. Transparency, accountability, and public awareness will be key to pushing back against these harmful efforts to undermine climate action.
It’s appalling that these companies are willing to undermine public confidence in climate action for the sake of their own profits. This is an egregious betrayal of the public trust.
Sadly, it’s not surprising given the long history of fossil fuel companies denying and obfuscating climate science. We need much stricter regulations and enforcement to rein in this behavior.
It’s disappointing to see big corporations spreading misinformation about climate change. This undermines public trust and stalls important progress on critical environmental issues.
Agreed. We need to hold these companies accountable and ensure accurate, fact-based information is shared, not misleading propaganda.
This report highlights the scale of the problem – over 14,000 instances of climate disinformation online. We must do more to combat these organized efforts to sow doubt and confusion.
Absolutely. Social media platforms have a responsibility to crack down on the spread of misinformation, especially when it comes to something as critical as climate change.