Tomorrow in London, a four-day investment conference in London kicks off. CC Forum calls itself the "green Davos," and its audience could have heard from the UK's new climate minister Graham Stuart. Instead, as DeSmog reported on Friday, they'll be subjected to the climate disinformation presented by Marc Morano and Christopher Monckton.
Even beyond their rank climate denial, these two are particularly odious figures. On January 6th, 2021, as Trump supporters were violently attempting to overthrow American democracy, Morano called for similarly violent attacks "to storm state Capitols and the CDC to end Covid lockdowns once and for all."
And Monckton is listed inaccurately as a "Lord" on the CCForum website, despite the fact that The House of Lords sent him a "cease and desist" letter a decade ago to tell him to knock it off. Oh, and in addition to being so wrong about climate science that even other deniers debunk him, Monckton has claimed to have cured AIDS and the common cold, and has a history of threatening to sue his critics to try and intimidate them into shutting up.
Now, it is definitely possible that the "unforeseen urgent government business" that Stuart's team told organizers caused them to cancel has nothing to do with the fact that DeSmog asked them about the conference hosting Monckton and Morano, but the timing sure makes it look like the noxious deniers were sufficiently toxic to make appearing at the same event as they are a political liability a precarious new government couldn't afford.
Stuart's office had confirmed that week that he would attend, but "when DeSmog made further inquiries," Adam Barnett reported, the office "then appeared to link Stuart’s decision to withdraw to his not knowing who else was booked for the event when he agreed to speak – an apparent reference to Morano and Monckton."
And Stuart isn't the only one. Dr. Aaron Theirry also announced his withdrawal from the event, as he "cannot in good conscience lend legitimacy to an event that would profile grifters who knowingly shill for fossil fuel polluters, even as millions have their lives & livelihoods destroyed by climate impacts." Which is, if anything, going easy on the two.
Even the event organizers themselves didn't exactly defend the dud duo. Instead, the CC Forum's Max Studennikoff said they're giving them the stage with the intent of "publicly debunking their arguments in a public debate on stage, as we firmly believe that any attempt to shut down such a debate would constitute an affront to free speech.”
Which is a) funny, because he's essentially admitting that they invited a couple of dufuses to the conference to point and laugh at and b) stupid, because they could have just… not given professional propagandists a platform to spread harmful disinformation, and instead given that time to literally anyone saying anything that's actually true.
It's fine to want to understand the opposition to sustainable investment, as the most generous interpretation of the invitation would suggest were their aims. But you absolutely do not need to talk to a liar to understand their lies! And these days, there are plenty of experts on the disinformation industry, who would almost certainly be thrilled to have an opportunity to explain why what people like Monckton and Morano say is irrelevant.
What matters is that they have built a career out of politicizing science and obstructing policy, and the lies they tell are a tool they use for that aim.
And as this episode makes clear, there are costs to choosing to platform deniers. Not only is it an embarrassment to the event, but those with integrity or political sensitivities withdraw, leaving the audience exposed to more disinfo and less info.
