The New Playbook Undermining climate action

The report by Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) analyzes ten 'misleading claims' used by fossil fuel interests to delay the energy transition. It argues that fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change, with 36.6 billion tonnes of the 40.5 billion global CO2 emissions in 2022 originating from their use. The document debunks claims that emissions—rather than fossil fuels themselves—are the problem, and challenges the industry's focus on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, noting that Scope 3 emissions account for 80-95% of total carbon emissions for oil and gas companies. It further critiques technological 'solutions' like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Direct Air Capture (DAC), e-fuels, and 'blue' hydrogen, characterizing them as expensive, inefficient, or unproven at the scale required to limit warming to 1.5C. Finally, it argues that fossil fuel reliance hinders economic growth in Africa and Asia and exacerbates the global cost-of-living crisis.

• Fossil fuel combustion is the primary driver of the climate crisis, with the vast majority of global CO2 emissions traced back to a small number of producers.
• The oil and gas industry's focus on reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions is insufficient because Scope 3 emissions represent the overwhelming majority of their carbon footprint.
• To meet the 1.5C limit of the Paris Agreement, global oil and gas production must decrease by 3% annually until 2050, and 60% of existing fossil methane gas and oil must remain unextracted.
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an ineffective primary solution due to high costs, slow deployment, and limited capacity; current and planned projects by 2030 would capture less than 1% of global fossil emissions.
• Direct Air Capture (DAC) is the most expensive CO2 capture method and is currently operating at a negligible scale, capturing almost 0.01 Mt CO2/year worldwide across 18 plants.
• E-fuels are projected to be three to five times more expensive than electric vehicles by 2050 and fail to reduce toxic NOx emissions compared to gasoline.
• Hydrogen's role in a net-zero system is limited, with the IPCC estimating it will account for a maximum of 2.1% of total energy consumption by 2050; 'blue' hydrogen is specifically criticized as potentially 20% worse than burning fossil gas for heat.
• Reliance on fossil fuel exports correlates with slower economic growth in Africa, and investments in gas infrastructure have not solved energy poverty, as seen in Mozambique where 70% of the population lacks electricity despite $30 billion in investments.

APA

Climate Action Against Disinformation (n.d.). The New Playbook Undermining climate action. https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-New-Playbook.pdf

Chicago

Climate Action Against Disinformation. The New Playbook Undermining climate action. n.d. https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-New-Playbook.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Action Against Disinformation |title=The New Playbook Undermining climate action |url=https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-New-Playbook.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateactionagainstdisinformationndnew, author = {{Climate Action Against Disinformation}}, title = {{The New Playbook Undermining climate action}}, institution = {Climate Action Against Disinformation}, url = {https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-New-Playbook.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }