COP28 wrapped up last week, and after monitoring the disinformation ecosystem, the final Climate Action Against Disinformation bulletin has some important takeaways.
Here are a few key excerpts:
“Fossil fuel lobbying is at an all-time high. COP28 granted access to a record 2,456 lobbyists - easily outnumbering delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations put together (1,509). At least 475 of this group were pushing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), while 160 had known ties to groups with a history of climate denial. The agribusiness lobby had 340 delegates, with another 100 in Dubai as part of national delegations. Influential blocs like OPEC felt emboldened to refute the science and actively asked their members to weaken the final text. The far-reaching African Energy Chamber also issued a letter before COP, using various climate misinformation tropes in its wording.”
“Industry PR is going ‘Gen-Z’. The PR playbook is evolving with social media, including a push to reach younger, diverse audiences. Ahead of COP28, oil companies were paying influencers to plug their products across Instagram, TikTok and other sites, as well as gaming platforms like Twitch. The fossil fuel industry is also woke-washing more than ever; paying lip service to progressive values and rhetoric without changing their business models.”
As Kate Cell, Senior Campaigner at the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “The oil and gas industry’s ‘deny and deceive’ tactics have always been aimed at delaying the fast, fair and funded phase-out of fossil fuels. During COP28 in Dubai, major fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron ramped up their greenwashing advertising, including focusing on technologies aimed at prolonging fossil fuel use. These efforts by industry deny the scientific realities of the climate crisis and must be swiftly rejected by policymakers.”
Big Oil isn't alone, though, since they have friends in the tech world:
“Big Tech turns a profit from misinformation... Unfortunately, platforms impose few (if any) limits on fossil fuel advertising via their products and services - even if the content is outright misinformation. Worse still, they make money in the process. This summit, we shone the spotlight on Google in particular, identifying close to 5,500 fossil fuel ads live on its revamped Ads Transparency Center. When looking up key climate terms on Google and Bing’s search engines, paid-for greenwashing was also rife. Beyond social media, we found industry sponsorship across news coverage of COP28, popular podcasts and other entertainment. Can’t we listen to “This American Life” in peace?!
...while their policies and enforcement are weak. We first shone a spotlight on platform failings during COP26. Since then, progress has been tepid at best. #ClimateScam continues to prosper on X, while TikTok is emerging as a climate conspiracy rabbit hole. Both Meta and Google reap in millions from paid-for content, but their Ad Libraries are a confusing mess. Ad tech providers are also allowing websites to monetise climate denial and misinformation via their services, despite policies that claim the opposite.”
As Michael Khoo, Climate Disinformation Program Director at Friends of the Earth US put it, “Big tech companies like X and Google have been fanning the flames of climate disinformation, and giving marginal views a larger platform than they have organically earned.”
And finally:
“Watch out for Big Ag. Though this year’s COP mostly focused on fossil fuels, other industries were hidden in plain sight. Efforts to address livestock emissions and land use are already subject to widespread lobbying and influence campaigns. A pre-COP preview from FAO on meat consumption was used to drive ‘green tyranny’ content, while bad actors attempted to seed similar narratives throughout the summit. As we have seen with transport and urban planning this year, vital policy debates are being subsumed into the ‘culture wars’ and proving popular across disparate groups. Our hunch is that the battle over food may be about to take centre stage.”
Callum Hood, Head of Research at CCDH summed it up: “Worryingly, this year has seen an escalation of attempts to threaten, demean and undermine independent activists, scientists and researchers engaged in several different areas of public policy – including climate and tech. The need to counter monetized climate disinformation has never been more urgent.”