Explore the latest climate disinfo publications!

The ClimateFactsMatter campaign launched this year by the European Commission is now shedding a light on local realities and highlighting how climate action is making a real difference on the ground. A new phase of the campaign has been launched to help citizens to be aware, be prepared and be informed about climate disinformation and learn more about EU action in this field.

Climate change exists. So does the disinformation around it.

The new phase of the campaign, be informed, sheds light on local narratives that are often subject to disinformation and raises awareness about the positive outcomes of local initiatives to tackle climate change, encouraging citizens to know more about EU climate action and its impact.

Updated toolkit!

New materials are now available for stakeholders in a dedicated toolkit: with local stories, new videos and other ready-to-use assets, to further amplify the campaign.

A closer look into real stories and projects

As a pilot initiative, the campaign has been running across the EU with a particular focus on a few target countries. This new phase of the campaign brings a localised approach, also with the goal of allowing people to connect with climate disinformation-related topics in a more personal way.

For this, the campaign is highlighting different EU-funded projects that are being implemented across the campaign’s target countries: sharing real stories, tangible benefits, and impactful initiatives that bring visible change.   

  • France: A story of a local resident from Marseille who switched to an electric vehicle (EV), and how the EU is backing green transition
  • Finland: In Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu, a peatland restoration project (POKPAK and POPKA2) is turning former peat extraction areas into wetlands that store carbon, improve water quality and support biodiversity.
  • Italy: In Emilia-Romagna, the ADA project helps farmers use data tools to manage climate risks such as frost, drought and heatwaves.
  • Poland: In Gdańsk, the Green H2 initiative produces renewable hydrogen for industrial use.

Learn more about these stories here.

Lasting impact

By promoting fact-based information and media literacy – with concrete everyday tools and resonating messages – the #ClimateFactsMatter campaign supports informed public debate and evidence-based climate action across Europe. With this campaign, the European Commission’s Directorate‑General for Climate Action reinforces its strategic goal to contribute to actively build societal resilience against climate disinformation.

An investigation by Maldita.es finds that YouTube continues to run ads on videos spreading climate misinformation, despite platform policies that prohibit monetising content contradicting scientific consensus on climate change.

The findings suggest a gap between YouTube’s stated policies and their enforcement, while also raising concerns about compliance with obligations under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

Key findings

• 20 YouTube channels spreading climate misinformation were identified, with a combined audience of over 21 million subscribers.
• The misleading videos analysed have accumulated more than 3 million views and all display advertising, generating revenue for both creators and YouTube.
• Half of the identified channels rank among Spain’s top 50 most-subscribed news and politics channels, indicating significant reach.
• When Maldita.es reported the videos as violations of YouTube’s advertising policies, the platform did not respond and took no action on the content.

Why it matters

The investigation suggests that weak enforcement may allow financial incentives to persist for climate misinformation, even when platforms formally prohibit such content. It also raises questions about whether YouTube is meeting its DSA obligation to respond to complaints and inform users of decisions regarding reported content.

An opinion piece in Canada’s National Observer warns that emerging autonomous AI agents could dramatically scale climate disinformation by generating attacks on scientists, policymakers and institutions without clear human direction. Unlike traditional disinformation campaigns, these systems may operate anonymously and at scale, producing fabricated claims, reputational attacks and manipulative narratives while making it harder to trace responsibility or hold actors accountable.

On another article, the “green AI” narrative is questioned. Writing in Tech Policy Press, Michael Khoo (Friends of the Earth) argues that tech companies are promoting an overly optimistic narrative about AI helping to solve the climate crisis while downplaying its rapidly growing energy demands. As generative AI drives a surge in data centre electricity use, he calls for stronger transparency requirements. 

 
 

At a meeting of the Green Weimar Triangle in Gniezno marking the initiative’s 35th anniversary, the environment ministers of France, Germany and Poland reaffirmed their commitment to EU climate neutrality and highlighted the need to tackle climate disinformation alongside strengthening Europe’s resilience and competitiveness.

The joint statement links efforts to counter misleading climate narratives with advancing the EU’s clean transition, energy security and industrial transformation toward a climate-neutral and circular economy.

 
 

France’s audiovisual regulator Arcom says it is strengthening its role in tackling climate disinformation, using both national media law and the EU’s Digital Services Act to address misleading content on TV and online platforms. 

 A Climate Group briefing warns that shrinking climate journalism, geopolitical tensions and coordinated online campaigns are putting pressure on information integrity, while governments and civil society step up responses, including through the COP30 Declaration on Information Integrity.

Writing in Tech Policy Press, Michael Khoo (Friends of the Earth) argues that tech companies are promoting an overly optimistic narrative about AI helping to solve the climate crisis while downplaying its rapidly growing energy demands. As generative AI drives a surge in data centre electricity use, he calls for stronger transparency requirements. 

A report by the Changing Markets Foundation warns that meat and dairy industry messaging and lobbying are shaping climate debates to delay action on food systems and emissions.

 A Global Witness investigation finds that social media smear campaigns are being used to criminalise Indigenous leaders and climate activists in Guatemala, linking online disinformation to arrests, harassment and fabricated accusations. 

Writing in The Guardian, journalist Rei Takver argues that the Trump administration’s sweeping dismantling of US climate policies, including underpinning federal climate regulation, has faced limited resistance from political leaders, media and the climate movement. This growing “climate hush” risks weakening public debate and accountability around climate policy, a dynamic celebrated by climate denial figure Marc Morano.

Stay tuned for enlightening events & announcements!

Friends of the Earth Scotland is hosting a national meeting on how to communicate climate solutions effectively in a time of rising “net zero” backlash, climate denial, and disinformation.

🗣️ With Ralph Underhill (Framing Matters), participants will explore practical ways to frame climate messages, respond to divisive narratives, and have impactful conversations that resonate with people’s everyday lives.

🛠️ Expect real-world examples, practical tools, and strategies to help strengthen climate campaigning and build a people-powered movement for change.

📅 25 March | 18:30 | Online

Ads that burn – Why cities are saying no to fossil fuel promotion will be hosted by EU Climate Pact, featuring campaigners from Italy and the Netherlands, and MEP Benedetta Scuderi. Register here.

Dangerous Distractions: Disinformation on food and climate will be hosted by the Changing Markets Foundation, featuring a panel of experts discussing  strategies for addressing disinformation around food and climate issues. Register here.

The University of Groningen is recruiting a PhD researcher to study how climate change can be communicated effectively in an environment shaped by disinformation and social polarization.

🌍 The project explores how messaging can correct misconceptions, reduce polarization, and strengthen social cohesion, combining insights from philosophy, sociology, psychology, and computational modelling.

📍 Faculty of Philosophy, University of Groningen
📅 Apply by: 1 April 2026
💰 Salary: €3,059–€3,881/month (full-time)

The research will test whether more moderate and depolarising communication strategies—such as incremental messaging and collective framing—can help counter divisive climate narratives.

The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change is a joint partnership between the Brazilian Government, the UN Secretariat and UNESCO. It aims to produce and gather evidence on the impact of disinformation on climate issues.

To foster programmatic coherence and optimize impact, a Global Multi-donor Fund for the Integrity of Information on Climate Change will be created to fund networked, in-depth research that will contribute to exposing and dismantling disinformation related to climate change, as well as the dissemination of the results of the research. Stay tuned.

The UN has just released its first comprehensive guide to strengthening information integrity globally. The new issue brief covers everything from identifying disinformation campaigns to building community resilience against false narratives. It frames information integrity as cross-cutting, touching governance, human rights, public health, climate action, and more. It highlights the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change and notes inclusion of information integrity in the COP Action Agenda for the first time.

The RePlaybook gathers insights from 30 organisations and practitioners at the forefront of the response. From attention-sucking algorithms to AI-generated slop, it explores how our information environment is shaping and influencing opinion on climate and offers strategies to decode disorder, challenge tech paradigms, and counteract division. This collaborative guide combines thought leadership and practical approaches. It equips communicators, campaigners, journalists, and researchers with fresh tools for navigating complexity and strengthening climate discourse in an age of cultural divides and contested truth.

Don’t miss this online course to tackle climate misinformation run by AFP.  It is free and in 45 minutes you’ll learn how to verify content and claims about climate change, we’ll talk about “greenwashing”, see what content is not verifiable, identify some types of misinformation and which sources to use.

Use Hot Air explore tool to see which topics are driving the conversation about climate change, from scepticism to outright mis-disinformation.

Here is the core of the story of how the Hot Air project was born: How a dubious claim about whales went from fringe argument to presidential policy.

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