ISD’s Jennie King on climate becoming the latest pillar of culture wars

ISD’s Head of Climate Research and Policy, Jennie King, is a guest on Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd, speaking about the evolving mis- and disinformation trends relating to climate change and the direct threat this poses to climate action in 2023.

In conversation with Miliband, UK Shadow Minister for Climate and Net Zero, she outlines the go-to narratives that are sometimes purposefully used to play on the feeling that climate action can be pushed down the road: 1) burden shift; there are worse offenders 2) surrender argument; there is no way to win 3) disruptive change isn’t necessary; we don’t need to phase out coal or invest in renewable energies 4) downsides of climate action; alternatives aren’t better for the environment.

Jennie also explains how climate has become central to broader culture war conversations, symbolic to extremists of of global elitists, government overreach and infringement of people’s civil liberties.

Followed by interviews from Sander van der Linden (Professor of Psychology at Cambridge University and Author of “FOOLPROOF: Why We Fall for Misinformation”) and Sean Buchan (Lead Campaigner at Stop Funding Heat), the episode unpacks the nuances of, and potential solutions to, denialist and delayist content online.

Jennie’s interview begins at 9:46 and is available on major podcast platforms.