Around 14% of people in Arizona believe climate change is not happening, according to a Yale study conducted in 2024. A new United Nations initiative strives to dismantle what it sees as misinformation about climate change and encourage outreach.
These beliefs can be caused by social media algorithms, family conversations and political beliefs, panelists at the Society of Environmental Journalists 2025 conference in Tempe, Arizona, said on April 25.
Charlotte Scaddan, the senior adviser on information integrity for the United Nations, said the U.N. is assembling a solution to disinformation about extreme weather events and promoting research to combat it, which will be done through the Global Initiative for Information Integrity.
Here are five takeaways from the panel:
What is the UN’s Global Initiative for Information Integrity?
It is a joint effort between countries and advisory groups to dismantle climate-related disinformation through data analysis, advocacy, outreach and diplomacy.
- Scaddan implemented the initiative.“It's to look holistically at the information ecosystem and how we can get to where we want to go,” Scaddan said.
- Amy Westervelt, the executive editor of Drilled, said the initiative was born out Brazil’s focus on information integrity. Brazil is where the U.N. Climate Change Conference 30 will be held in November.
Why rejecting climate disinformation is important
Thais Lazzeri is the founder and director of FALA, a Brazilian impact studio focused on social change. She said there is a “supply chain of lies” designed to reject climate action.She referenced the May 2024 flood that affected Brazil, and how several people refused help from their government.
- The Brazilian government has tried to bring awareness to this for the past five years and provide solutions to misinformation, she said.
- Kate Cell is the senior climate campaign manager of the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. For journalists, Cell said she wishes to see more framing about individuals’ ability to prepare well, their ability to recover and their ability to be more resilient in coverage on hurricane season in the United States.
How to hold those accountable for spreading disinformation
A goal of the initiative is to identify “bad actors,” individuals who spread misleading rhetoric about climate on social media or other forms of communication.Cell said they identify bad actors through understanding trends or spikes of misinformation, mostly during elections or extreme weather events.
- “(We) try really hard to unmask it, so that it can't do or has less ability to block people's access to what they need in order to make climate progress and to recover climate disaster,” Cell said.
- Cell referenced the Disinformation Playbook on the website of Union of Concerned Scientists.
How social media platforms amplify disinformation
Algorithms and artificial intelligence both prioritize sensational content that can falsify information about climate change and natural disasters, panelists said.
Scaddan said sensationalism content bleeds into advertising companies as well.
- Cell said algorithms tend to favor sensational and polarizing content, often resulting in the mainstream of hateful messaging and false narratives.
- “Why do they want people to keep looking?” Cell said. “It's so that they buy products that are advertised in front of them. It really all comes down to advertising.”
How to break through the disinformation barrier
Understanding that the ideas are wrong and not the people is a mindset that can help reach those who may be affected by climate disinformation, Scaddan said.
- Scaddan said the initiative does outreach for groups such as those in faith-based organizations.A priority for her is to frame accurate climate information to appeal to individuals through methods of communication like community engagement.
- Cell recommended the book “The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family” by Jesselyn Cook when understanding how to navigate speaking to family members who have differing opinions on climate.
George Headley is politics editor at The State Press at Arizona State University, and is part of a student newsroom led by The Arizona Republic.
Coverage of the Society of Environmental Journalists conference is supported by Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, the University of Arizona, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and the Arizona Media Association.
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