According to Forbes, climate disinformation related to COP30 surged by 267% between July and September, with conference keywords appearing 14,000 times alongside negative terms like “disaster” and “failure.” Fossil fuel companies including Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies spent up to $5 million on climate ads during COP28 preparations that critics call disinformation. The report from Climate Action Against Disinformation and Observatory for Information Integrity reveals AI-generated fake videos, including one of a non-existent flooded Belém city, are circulating widely. UN Senior Advisor Charlotte Scaddan warned that foreign states are weaponizing climate disinformation to undermine climate action and destabilize democratic processes. Meanwhile, tech companies are moving too slowly to remove false content according to the groups.
AI Fakes and Fossil Fuel Dollars
Here’s the thing that really gets me about this situation. We’re not just talking about people sharing questionable memes or cherry-picked data anymore. We’re dealing with completely fabricated reality – AI-generated videos of cities that don’t exist, floods that never happened, and reporters who aren’t real. And these aren’t just random internet trolls creating this stuff. The report shows fossil fuel companies dropping millions on what essentially amounts to climate denial advertising.
Think about that for a second. While scientists are trying to communicate urgent climate data, we’ve got AI systems creating convincing fake disasters that never occurred. The angry comments these videos generate on platforms like X and TikTok? They’re reacting to something that literally doesn’t exist. It’s like we’re fighting ghosts while the real problems keep getting worse.
Big Tech’s Slow Response
So where are the platforms in all this? According to the report, they’re basically dragging their feet. We’re seeing a massive increase in climate misinformation, but the response from social media companies seems stuck in first gear. They’ve had years to figure this out, yet here we are with the same problems on a larger scale.
What’s particularly frustrating is that this isn’t just about climate science anymore. The UN is warning that this disinformation is being used to fuel social polarization and even impact elections. We’re talking about foreign states using climate denial as a weapon against democratic processes. That takes this from an environmental issue to a national security concern pretty quickly.
Fighting Back Against Fake Reality
The good news is that people are starting to fight back. Brazil’s government, the UN, and UNESCO launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change to support journalists and researchers who are often risking their safety to uncover the truth. But let’s be honest – they’re up against some powerful forces.
Fossil fuel companies have deep pockets, and social media algorithms seem designed to amplify outrage rather than accuracy. The full “Deny, Deceive, Delay: Demystified” report makes it clear that we’re underestimating public support for climate action because the loudest voices online are often the most misinformed. Basically, the battle for public opinion is being fought with fake weapons on digital battlefields.
What Comes Next
Look, I don’t have all the answers here. But one thing seems clear – we can’t keep treating climate misinformation as just another online nuisance. When major corporations are spending millions to spread doubt and foreign governments are using it as a political weapon, we need to take this seriously.
The question is whether tech companies will step up before it’s too late. Will they finally treat climate disinformation with the same urgency they give to other forms of harmful content? Or will we keep seeing the same slow response while the problem keeps growing? Given what’s at stake, we probably can’t afford to wait and find out.
