Tackling Climate Disinformation with Environmental Defence’s New Media Backgrounder

Environmental Defence releases new backgrounder on the growing threat of climate change misinformation and disinformation, and reference resources for debunking misleading myths about fossil fuels.

Montréal/Tiohtià:ke | Traditional, unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation, a gathering place for many First Nations, including the Anishinaabeg – Fossil Fuel Fact Check: Fighting climate disinformation and misleading oil and gas industry narratives is a new backgrounder that explains the rising threat of climate disinformation and its power to undermine effective climate solutions. As part of a growing effort to counter climate disinformation and misinformation, this new tool equips readers to counter disinformation. The Fossil Fuel Fact Check table highlights popular misleading narratives about the energy transition and the fossil fuel industry, with examples from Canadian news media, and provides factual counter-information. 

“Disinformation is increasingly being recognized as a serious threat to our climate, because it’s slowing down and disrupting the rollout of readily available solutions,” says Emilia Belliveau, the energy transition program manager at Environmental Defence. 

At the last UN climate negotiations, Canada signed on to the Global Initiative for Information Integrity and Climate Change, which aims to bring focused support and resources to fighting climate disinformation. While recognition from the federal government of the problem at hand is valuable, the proliferation of misleading claims about climate change, its causes and solutions, must be tackled across institutions that seek to maintain public confidence. 

Journalists have previously highlighted the concerning trend of Canadian politicians sharing mis- and disinformation about climate change. For example, Prime Minister Carney’s misleading claim about “decarbonized” barrels of oil made headlines last year when it was swiftly and publicly challenged and debunked. But many misleading narratives continue to go unchallenged. 

“There’s a long history of Big Oil misleading the public about climate change, which is why we need to be absolutely clear about the main cause of global warming — coal, oil, and ‘natural’ gas,” Belliveau says. “So we’re sharing the facts to directly counter false information and to lift the veil on Big Oil narratives that use partially correct but incomplete information to manipulate the public. It’s important for people in Canada to get the full story.”

Background: 

• Disinformation is information that is deliberately false or misleading. Misinformation describes when false or misleading information is spread without the knowledge or necessarily harmful intent of those sharing the information. Both are being actively spread about climate change, and are significant interrelated problems. For example, disinformation generated and spread by anti-climate interests may then be repeated as misinformation by uninformed members of the public.
• The danger of disinformation was highlighted in a 2024 report published by the Government of Canada, Disruptions on the Horizon. The report ranked the risk that “people cannot tell what is true and what is not” as the most likely threat to occur, anticipated by 2027. It was also ranked as the eighth most impactful disruption.

The United States House Oversight Committee released a joint staff report in April 2024 that confirmed oil and gas companies have engaged in decades-long disinformation campaigns to mislead the public and obstruct climate action. Their report notes that “Big Oil’s deception campaign evolved from explicit denial of the basic science underlying climate change to deception, disinformation, and doublespeak” on issues including the safety of natural gas and disingenuous industry commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.