e used to know where we stood with climate change misinformation. Deniers—people who were, and continue to be, literally in denial—simply claimed climate change isn’t happening. Many of the individuals and groups promoting denial also questioned the anthropogenic cause of climate change, claiming that these phenomena were not linked to human behaviors such as burning fossils fuels.
Much of the organized campaigning around climate denial was also funded by the fossil fuels lobby, which spent decades pushing disinformation campaigns about climate science, which are now the subject of multiple lawsuits and investigations in the US and internationally.
A shift away from denialism
The situation has since moved on. Whilst climate denial still exists, it arguably no longer poses the biggest threat to climate action. Recent research shows that the narratives polluting the information landscape around climate change have morphed into something more complex and mutable, which may be harder to counter than their simpler predecessors.
The most urgent question facing the international community after the COP26 is how we can make the energy transition a reality. Yet, this is happening at the same time as the information—or rather, misinformation—ecosystem around climate change is becoming more complex. To properly focus our efforts, we need to learn to recognize and counter false narratives where they exist, and promote messages focused on the climate actions that count.
A new kind of misinformation
A new report by Logically and APCO Worldwide titled “Climate change misinformation in the age of COVID-19,” has uncovered some of the ways in which climate misinformation is evolving away from denial into multiple, complex narratives. The research, which analyzed an extensive dataset of 6.67 million news media and social media posts across the open internet, found that denialist narratives were a negligible proportion of online conversations over the past few years. Instead, climate change misinformation now encompasses a broad set of narratives, including, among others, the belief in “doomerism”—the idea that the climate is changing but that it has advanced too far for human intervention to have an impact—as well as the idea that climate action is an expensive scam to siphon money off to the wealthy.
Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have had a significant impact on climate misinformation, and since 2020, some of the most voluminous climate change misinformation showed up within pandemic conspiracy narratives, including The Great Reset and anti-vaccine propaganda.
Climate misinformation presents a risk for companies looking to showcase their sustainability strategies and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) credentials. Recent research initiatives, such as the development of an AI platform called “ClimateBert,” have exposed the ways in which companies selectively “cherry-pick” climate risk information in corporate climate financial disclosures, a practice which is dubbed as “greenwashing,” but which might be better defined as a form of climate change mis- or disinformation.
This, and other, new forms of climate change misinformation pose a risk to the viability of climate action: the more nuanced the climate change discussion becomes, the harder it is to distinguish real from false commitments.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by the trade association representing the PR industry in the UK, the PRCA, found that six in 10 PR professionals were concerned that their clients want to talk about the climate crisis rather than to act to address the problem, and 17 percent of PR professionals believe that their clients’ knowledge of climate change is “incorrect or misinformed.”
Countering climate change misinformation
There are a range of different approaches for how policymakers, organizations, communicators, and individuals can help to identify and counter climate change misinformation. These include deploying online intelligence research to help identify false narratives, swift takedowns of climate change misinformation on social media, and running countermeasure campaigns focused on disseminating messaging about climate change. Specifically, pre-bunking communication strategies, which focus on preemptively warning people about attempts to spread misinformation, have proven to be effective at building resistance against climate change misinformation. Specialized training, focusing on fact checking and integrity, is also essential for the communications industry, which is vulnerable to complicity in greenwashing on behalf of clients eager to communicate about climate change.
It is also critical to consider some of the structural social issues underpinning the spread of misinformation, including inequality and poor education, which may increase the likelihood that false information will catch on. Investing in educational programs, such as media literacy, is one way we can help social media users to increase discernment, and better navigate the information ecosystem.
Research highlights the mercurial persistence of climate change information and how this should be understood within a broader information and communications context. Through effective interventions, and by focusing on educating our youth—and those communicating on climate change—we may still have a fighting chance to stop poisoning our planet.
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Climate Change Denial Is Morphing into a More Dangerous Form of Misinformation
COP26 Glasgow, Scotland. Photo by Karwai Tang/ UK Government.
November 7, 2021
Whilst climate denial still exists, it arguably no longer poses the biggest threat to climate action. Recent research shows that the narratives polluting the information landscape around climate change have morphed into something more complex and mutable, which may be harder to counter.
W
e used to know where we stood with climate change misinformation. Deniers—people who were, and continue to be, literally in denial—simply claimed climate change isn’t happening. Many of the individuals and groups promoting denial also questioned the anthropogenic cause of climate change, claiming that these phenomena were not linked to human behaviors such as burning fossils fuels.
Much of the organized campaigning around climate denial was also funded by the fossil fuels lobby, which spent decades pushing disinformation campaigns about climate science, which are now the subject of multiple lawsuits and investigations in the US and internationally.
A shift away from denialism
The situation has since moved on. Whilst climate denial still exists, it arguably no longer poses the biggest threat to climate action. Recent research shows that the narratives polluting the information landscape around climate change have morphed into something more complex and mutable, which may be harder to counter than their simpler predecessors.
The most urgent question facing the international community after the COP26 is how we can make the energy transition a reality. Yet, this is happening at the same time as the information—or rather, misinformation—ecosystem around climate change is becoming more complex. To properly focus our efforts, we need to learn to recognize and counter false narratives where they exist, and promote messages focused on the climate actions that count.
A new kind of misinformation
A new report by Logically and APCO Worldwide titled “Climate change misinformation in the age of COVID-19,” has uncovered some of the ways in which climate misinformation is evolving away from denial into multiple, complex narratives. The research, which analyzed an extensive dataset of 6.67 million news media and social media posts across the open internet, found that denialist narratives were a negligible proportion of online conversations over the past few years. Instead, climate change misinformation now encompasses a broad set of narratives, including, among others, the belief in “doomerism”—the idea that the climate is changing but that it has advanced too far for human intervention to have an impact—as well as the idea that climate action is an expensive scam to siphon money off to the wealthy.
Interestingly, the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to have had a significant impact on climate misinformation, and since 2020, some of the most voluminous climate change misinformation showed up within pandemic conspiracy narratives, including The Great Reset and anti-vaccine propaganda.
Climate misinformation presents a risk for companies looking to showcase their sustainability strategies and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) credentials. Recent research initiatives, such as the development of an AI platform called “ClimateBert,” have exposed the ways in which companies selectively “cherry-pick” climate risk information in corporate climate financial disclosures, a practice which is dubbed as “greenwashing,” but which might be better defined as a form of climate change mis- or disinformation.
This, and other, new forms of climate change misinformation pose a risk to the viability of climate action: the more nuanced the climate change discussion becomes, the harder it is to distinguish real from false commitments.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by the trade association representing the PR industry in the UK, the PRCA, found that six in 10 PR professionals were concerned that their clients want to talk about the climate crisis rather than to act to address the problem, and 17 percent of PR professionals believe that their clients’ knowledge of climate change is “incorrect or misinformed.”
Countering climate change misinformation
There are a range of different approaches for how policymakers, organizations, communicators, and individuals can help to identify and counter climate change misinformation. These include deploying online intelligence research to help identify false narratives, swift takedowns of climate change misinformation on social media, and running countermeasure campaigns focused on disseminating messaging about climate change. Specifically, pre-bunking communication strategies, which focus on preemptively warning people about attempts to spread misinformation, have proven to be effective at building resistance against climate change misinformation. Specialized training, focusing on fact checking and integrity, is also essential for the communications industry, which is vulnerable to complicity in greenwashing on behalf of clients eager to communicate about climate change.
It is also critical to consider some of the structural social issues underpinning the spread of misinformation, including inequality and poor education, which may increase the likelihood that false information will catch on. Investing in educational programs, such as media literacy, is one way we can help social media users to increase discernment, and better navigate the information ecosystem.
Research highlights the mercurial persistence of climate change information and how this should be understood within a broader information and communications context. Through effective interventions, and by focusing on educating our youth—and those communicating on climate change—we may still have a fighting chance to stop poisoning our planet.
