The Government of Brazil, the UN, and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have launched a joint initiative to strengthen research and communication actions to tackle “disinformation campaigns that are delaying and derailing climate action.”
Launched on 19 November 2024, the last day of the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change is “an important intervention to boost support for urgent climate action at a time when scientists are warning that the world is running out of time,” a UN press release notes.
The Initiative originates from the commitment in the Global Digital Compact, adopted by the Summit of the Future (SoF) in September, which encourages UN entities, countries, and stakeholders to assess the impact of misinformation and disinformation on the achievement of the SDGs.
“Actions to fight climate change are… greatly affected by denialism and disinformation,” Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva underscored in his opening speech on the second day of the Summit. He said the Initiative “will bring together countries, international organizations, and networks of researchers to support joint efforts to combat disinformation and promote actions for COP 30” – the UN Climate Change Conference Brazil will host in 2025.
The UN press release notes that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recognized the risk disinformation poses to achieving climate goals by pointing to “deliberate undermining of science,” which, it says, contributes to “misperceptions of the scientific consensus, uncertainty, disregarded risk and urgency, and dissent.”
Initially discussed in the G20 framework, the Initiative is a dedicated multilateral collaboration among countries and international organizations to fund research and actions promoting information integrity on climate change issues. The effort aims “to expand the scope and breadth of research into climate disinformation and its impacts” and to “gather evidence from around the world to inform and bolster strategic action, advocacy and communications.”
The initial goal is for a UNESCO-administered fund to raise USD 10 million to 15 million over the next 36 months. These funds will be distributed as grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support research into climate information integrity, develop communication strategies, and conduct public awareness campaigns.
“We must fight the coordinated disinformation campaigns impeding global progress on climate change, ranging from outright denial to greenwashing to harassment of climate scientists,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Through this Initiative, we will work with researchers and partners to strengthen action against climate disinformation,” he stated.
Thus far, Chile, Denmark, France, Morocco, Sweden, and the UK have supported the Initiative. [Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change] [Initiative on UNESCO Website] [G20 News Release]