Climate-narrative hijacking by extremists and conspiracists threatens COP26 summit efforts

Language around climate denialism and related misinformation is increasingly overlapping with spaces formed around anti-vax, anti-government and other extremist-oriented groups. Recognizing this threat ahead of COP26, ISD rallied partners to monitor a “War room” unit in order to identify coordinated attacks against the summit and public opinion in real time, before any damage could be done.

Our Jennie King, who has been leading efforts in Glasgow, spoke with NPR about the hijacking of the climate change narrative and how “it’s being weaponized by groups that have extremist or conspiracist affiliations.” King has been onsite with partner organisations keeping watch over ISD- and CASM-built dashboards analysing trends, posts and narratives on Facebook, Twitter and other websites that could potentially derail summit efforts. In doing so, King has sent out daily bulletins to hundreds of subscribers in the climate activism community, as well as media outlets, policymakers and scientist.

To read the article and more on our “War room” efforts, please click here.

Jennie King is a Senior Policy Manager for Civic Action & Education at ISD.