What is climate misinformation?

The document distinguishes between climate misinformation (unintentional) and disinformation (intentional), adopting the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) definition. It identifies two primary drivers for creating this content: protecting fossil fuel profits and exploiting the 'attention economy' for revenue or influence. The guide focuses on 'Persuadables'—the approximately 69% of the UK population who are neither activists nor deniers—and categorises misinformation into four types: climate denial, climate delay, greenwashing, and conspiracy theories. Climate delay is identified as the most common and effective form in the UK, often employing 'The Cost Of Net Zero' frame or exploiting 'culture wars' through the 'eco-hypocrite' narrative. Greenwashing is highlighted as a specific form of delay driven by large marketing budgets, while climate conspiracy theories, such as 'climate lockdowns' and opposition to '15-minute cities', are noted as growing risks.

• The primary distinction between climate misinformation and disinformation is the intent of the spreader; misinformation is shared without the creator necessarily realising it is false, whereas disinformation is shared deliberately.
• Climate misinformation is driven by two main incentives: the desire to maintain fossil fuel profits and business-as-usual operations, and the pursuit of revenue, clout, or support by exploiting the 'attention economy' through emotional or controversial content.
• In the UK, 'Persuadables'—defined as the roughly 69% of the population who are neither climate activists nor deniers—are the group most vulnerable to climate misinformation.
• Climate delay is the most frequent and successful form of climate misinformation in the UK, often focusing on specific policies and technologies, such as using 'The Cost Of Net Zero' frame to highlight short-term costs while ignoring long-term benefits or costs of inaction.
• Climate conspiracy theories are evolving in the UK, moving from the traditional 'climate change is a hoax' narrative (believed by 7-8% of Britons) to newer themes such as 'climate lockdowns' in 2020 and opposition to '15-minute cities' in Oxford in 2023.

APA

Lujani, F. (2022). What is climate misinformation? ACT Climate Labs. https://www.actclimatelabs.org/what-is-climate-misinformation/

Chicago

Lujani, Florencia. What is climate misinformation? ACT Climate Labs, 2022. https://www.actclimatelabs.org/what-is-climate-misinformation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lujani |first1=Florencia |title=What is climate misinformation? |publisher=ACT Climate Labs |date=21 June 2022 |url=https://www.actclimatelabs.org/what-is-climate-misinformation/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lujani2022what, author = {Lujani, Florencia}, title = {{What is climate misinformation?}}, institution = {ACT Climate Labs}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://www.actclimatelabs.org/what-is-climate-misinformation/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }