COP29: open letter demands action against climate disinformation

London – An open letter signed by 51 international organizations and 42 climate experts published in COP29, in Baku, makes an urgent call to action to tackle the growing crisis of climate misinformation, demanding that governments demand social media measures to combat its spread.

Published this Thursday (15), the document is endorsed by organizations such as Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) Avaaz, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), Reporters Without Borders, E3G, Purpose, ClimaInfo, FALA, Climate Observatory, National Network to Combat Disinformation, WWF-Brazil and renowned experts such as John P. Holdren, Michael Mann, Ed Maibach, Thelma Krug, and Geoffrey Supran.

“This disinformation, spread by vested interests, threatens to undermine progress at both crucial international events, where discussions about platform regulation and the role of the global community in combating disinformation are in the spotlight,” the letter says.

This call to action comes as Brazil, host of the upcoming G20 Summit, leads a global initiative focused specifically on the integrity of climate information, with the aim of combating disinformation that impedes climate action, together with the UN.

The text says:

“We climate, education and information integrity organizations, including members of the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition and climate experts, call on governments around the world to take immediate and decisive action to address this crisis.

With the COP negotiations setting the stage for global climate action and the G20 Summit offering a crucial platform for international cooperation, it is imperative that governments recognize the threat of climate disinformation and take concrete steps to ensure the integrity of information by opening up path to meaningful climate action.”

Document published at COP29 demands that governments take action against climate misinformation in the media

The signatories urge governments to encourage media companies, advertising technology providers, and broadcasting and publishing companies to be responsible and stop acting as “facilitators of planetary destruction.”

The letter cites a recent report by Climate Action Against Disinformation titled Extreme Weather, Extreme Content: How Big Tech Facilitates Climate Disinformation In a World on the Brink, which documents how climate misinformation is “abundant and continually undermines climate action.”

The organizations and climate experts signing the document call on governments to act to force digital media companies that operate social networks to:

1. Publicly recognize climate disinformation as a major threat to the information ecosystem, undermining climate action and related policies, and putting public health and safety at risk;

2. Adopt a universal definition of climate disinformation as misleading or misleading online behavior that undermines public understanding of the existence or impacts of climate change, the unequivocal human influence on climate change, and the need for urgent action to reduce climate change. global warming emissions (mitigation) and to prepare for current impacts and those that are already predicted;

3. Produce and publish a transparent plan to prevent the spread of climate disinformation;

4. Increase transparency and reporting.

5. Allow researchers to access data to carry out studies on disinformation on networks;

6. Prevent the monetization of climate disinformation;

7. Implement platform-wide “inoculation” efforts to increase users’ resilience to false or misleading content before they are exposed to this type of misinformation.

8. Ensure strong labor policies.

9. Adopt measures to address the impact of emerging technologies such as AI.

The letter emphasizes the importance of adopting Global Principles for Information Integrity of the UN to promote a healthier online environment that supports informed decision-making and enables effective climate action.

The complete letter with the list of signatory entities and experts can be seen here.