COP26 agreement must promise crack down on climate misinformation, campaigners and companies say
More than 250 firms call for final document to set out a plan for tackling climate misinformation online
A broad coalition of more than 250 climate campaigners, companies, and advertisers have published an open letter calling for the final agreement to come out of the ongoing COP26 Climate Summit to commit countries to cracking down on climate misinformation and disinformation.
European Climate Foundation CEO Laurence Tubiana, 350.org executive director May Boeve, Friends of the Earth, WWF International, SSE, Sky, Ben and Jerry’s, and ad agencies Havas Media and VCCP are among the individuals and organisations that have signed the letter, which also calls directly on technology platforms to take more action to police and remove climate misinformation for their sites.
The letter, coordinated by the Conscious Advertising Network, calls for negotiators at COP26 to establish a “universal definition” of climate misinformation and disinformation at the ongoing talks and pledge to take action against climate disinformation and misinformation in the ‘COP26 Negotiated Outcome’ based on the agreed definition.
“COP26 is a perfect moment to start momentum for decision-makers to acknowledge the climate misinformation threat and, through global cooperation, to step up against it,” it notes.
The COP26 Presidency has previously stated it was committed to creating a new work programme in the COP26 negotiated outcome focused on “climate empowerment, education, training and public awareness, participation and access to information”.
The missive warns that the threat posed by climate misinformation and disinformation is “not abstract”, noting that misinformation has derailed previous conferences before, pointing to a “coordinated online campaign” from right-wing populists, far-right extremists, and conspiracy theorists that played a part in a dozen countries dropping support for the UN Global Compact on Migration in 2018.
In a section addressed to the CEOs of Facebook, Instagram, Google, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Reddit, the letter calls on tech companies to accept the “official definition” and implement climate misinformation and disinformation policies that cover content, algorithms, and advertising.
Firms should produce and publicise a 100 per cent transparent company plan to eliminate the spread of climate disinformation on their platforms, the letter reads, similar to the robust Covid-19 policies published over the last 18 months.
“There isn’t a universally agreed definition of climate dis and misinformation, and most online platforms don’t have climate dis and misinformation policies,” said Jacob Dubbins, co-founder of the Conscious Advertising Network. “Clearly, we need both of these in order to combat misinformation that can seriously halt developments we are making to limit global warming to 1.5C. We have seen misinformation derail conferences before and we cannot have it happen again. Our planet and our lives are at stake.”
A number of social media companies have produced policies to try and counter climate-related misinformation, but campaigners have consistently argued that these policies remain insufficiently robust.
The COP26 Presidency was considering a comment at the time of going to press.
The open letter was published the day after a group of more than 100 creators, educators, and campaigners launched a campaign calling on PR agency Edelman to stop working with oil giant Exxon Mobil.
Clean Creatives, the campaign group organising the push, said on Twitter that company founder Richard Edelman’s defence of his work with fossil fuel clients was doing “significant reputation damage” to the agency’s brand.
“Rejecting fossil fuel clients would open the door for Edelman to work more closely with creators and advocates, and ultimately better serve their clients,” it said.
The calls for a crackdown on greenwashing and climate misinformation comes as a poll yesterday morning revealed that concern for the environment in the UK has reached an all-time peak, with 40 per cent of the population putting it in their top three issues.
The YouGov survey shows that climate concern is even higher among 18-24 year olds, with 43 per cent of respondents in this category saying it was a top issue.
