Climate action sidetracked by ‘culture wars’ and delay tactics

Our report “Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate Disinformation at COP26 & Beyond” is covered by the Guardian, featuring our findings monitoring mis- and disinformation around COP26.

In partnership with CASM Technology and the 20+ member coalition Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), we evidence how flat out climate change denialism has become less common in recent times. Instead, we’ve seen how ‘delayism’ narratives have increased in prominence, intended to downplay the issue or condemn any action as unfeasible, overly expensive and disruptive.

“Our analysis has shown that climate disinformation has become more complex, evolving from outright denial into identifiable ‘discourses of delay’ to exploit the gap between buy-in and action,” ISD’s head of climate disinformation, Jennie King, said in conversation with the media outlet.

“Governments and social media platforms must learn the new strategies at play and understand that disinformation in the climate realm has increasing crossover with other harms, including electoral integrity, public health, hate speech and conspiracy theories”.

Read more coverage of this report on VideoWeek.