Hot air and hard truths

The Information Policy and Integrity Exchange (IPIE) has released a landmark review on climate misinformation and disinformation, synthesising a decade of research across 300 studies. The review reveals a troubling evolution in climate disinformation tactics. Denialism is giving way to more insidious strategies — such as sowing doubt about renewable energy, exaggerating scientific uncertainty, and reframing climate action as elitist overreach. These tactics are increasingly networked and algorithmically amplified, muddying public understanding and delaying urgent policy responses.

Our analysis identifies five dominant narrative frames used to distort climate science: denial of anthropogenic causes; distraction through unrelated crises; attacks on climate advocates; promotion of false solutions; and strategic amplification of uncertainty. These frames are not random — they are often deployed by powerful actors with vested interests in fossil fuel economies and political polarisation.

The United Nations has declared that access to information about climate change is a human right. They’ve even outlined a set of global principles for maintaining the integrity of publicly available information about climate change. Our study shows that misleading information is adding to the climate crisis.

Take, for example, the way in which critics swiftly blamed solar and wind energy for the massive blackout in Spain and Portugal on April 28. This was amplified on social media for weeks before the Spanish government finally declared that the national grid operator and private power generation firms were responsible due to the power grid’s lack of capacity to control grid voltage. According to one of the lead authors of the report, Professor Klaus Jensen, mis and disinformation erodes public trust and impairs collective decision-making. It not only obstructs emissions reduction efforts but also delays climate adaptation.

Our review also evaluates countermeasures. While fact checking remains vital (see next item), it’s not enough. More effective responses combine legislation to ensure standardised carbon reporting, litigation against greenwashing, education of policymakers and public media literacy as well as coalition building across stakeholder groups. Yet these interventions are unevenly applied and under-resourced.

For journalists, educators, and policymakers, the message is clear: climate disinformation is not just a scientific issue — it’s a systemic one. Addressing it requires cross-sector collaboration and a renewed commitment to information integrity.

References

Report: Access to information on climate change and human rights- Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change

https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a79176-access-information-climate-change-and-human-rights-report-special