After reviewing thousands of academic papers published over the last decade from across the computer, social and behavioural sciences, the researchers selecting the 300 most well-known for systematic analysis.
They found that “denialism has evolved into strategic scepticism”, with campaigns now focusing less on denying climate change and more on discrediting the effectiveness, costs, or fairness of proposed solutions.
Political leaders, civil servants, and regulatory agencies are key targets of misinformation in efforts to delay climate policy, while automated and coordinated ‘bots’ play a central role in “pushing misleading narratives, not just fringe commentary”.
The scientific assessment by the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is the most comprehensive of its kind, and shows how fossil fuel companies, aligned with political interests, and affiliated think tanks, undertake sophisticated campaigns that sow doubt about climate solutions.
“Climate misinformation is being amplified by institutions with the power to shape narratives and suppress inconvenient truths,” said Dr Ece Elbeyi, lead author of the report. “As long as these actors continue to manipulate the flow of information, the prospects for effective and equitable climate action will remain dangerously out of reach.”
The study also found "critical problems" with current research on climate misinformation, with insights from Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia vastly underrepresented, limiting the global picture.
Furthermore, researchers lack real-time transparency from digital platforms, and therefore can't see how misinformation spreads or disrupts data.
In terms of solutions, the systematic review finds a strong, global, expert consensus that public-interest laws must require accurate climate reporting from corporations and ensure transparency in digital communications.
Without confronting misinformation, the review warns that “progress on climate action will remain stalled”, with success dependent on the integrity of the information environment, as much as technological innovation or policy targets.
Dr Klaus Bruhn Jensen, professor at the University of Copenhagen, commented: "We are dealing with an information environment that has been deliberately distorted.
"When corporations, governments, and media platforms obscure climate realities, the result is paralysis. Addressing the climate emergency therefore demands not only policy reform, but an unflinching reckoning with systems that spread and sustain falsehoods.”
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Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of ISEP’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for ISEP members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
