As extreme weather events intensify across the globe, the spread of climate disinformation is escalating at an alarming rate.
Misleading content, ranging from fabricated claims about government weather manipulation to false narratives surrounding renewable energy, is fueling scepticism and hindering climate action.
Over the past year, conspiracy theories have surged around major climate events. During Hurricane Helene, online misinformation spread claims of government-induced storms and land grabs linked to mining interests.
In Spain, misleading narratives falsely suggested that geoengineering techniques were being used to worsen flooding, while in Los Angeles, wildfires were accompanied by baseless rumours that water was being withheld or diverted to influential pistachio farmers.
According to a new report by NGO Global Witness, the situation is likely to deteriorate in 2025.
“This is likely to worsen in 2025, with a new US administration that is hostile to climate action, and the move by Meta to end its fact-checking program in the U.S., which would have provided more reliable information to users about false climate claims they were seeing on their feeds,” the report states.
The rise of AI-generated misinformation has further exacerbated the problem.
Researchers found that media outlets such as the Epoch Times, which regularly publish climate-sceptic content, generated nearly $1.5 million in combined revenue for themselves and Google over 12 months.
“Producing sensationalist climate denial content is quick and easy, especially with the advent of generative AI, and can be turned into profit by taking advantage of online AdTech systems,” said the researchers.
With COP30 set to take place in Brazil later this year, the report warns that Brazilian agribusinesses are expected to spread disinformation about the environmental impact of their activities, while Indigenous communities defending their land will likely be targeted by coordinated harassment campaigns.
A separate analysis by Ripple Research and Texas A&M University examined climate misinformation on LinkedIn, revealing two dominant narratives: “climate solutions won’t work” and “climate science is unreliable.”
“Narratives in posts found rarely denied climate change outright. Instead, they employed more sophisticated tactics, focusing on eroding trust in climate solutions and scientific consensus,” the researchers said.
“Posts often framed renewable energy as ineffective, expensive, or impractical, using misleading statistics or cherry-picked anecdotes. Others worked to undermine climate science by portraying it as uncertain or politically motivated.”
The research further highlighted that a small group of users is responsible for a disproportionate amount of climate misinformation. The top 5% of authors generated 39% of posts, contributing to 46% of comments and 44% of shares.
Recognising the growing threat of climate disinformation, Brazil, the United Nations, and UNESCO launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change late last year.
The initiative aims to combat misinformation by funding NGOs through a UNESCO-administered grant program, with contributions from countries including Chile, Denmark, France, Morocco, the U.K., and Sweden.
The fund aims to raise between $10 and $15 million over the next three years.
“Coordinated disinformation campaigns are impeding global progress on climate change,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists.”
As climate change intensifies, so too does the battle over the truth. With social media platforms adjusting their policies and AI making misinformation easier to produce, experts warn that the fight against climate disinformation will only become more critical in the coming years.
