La désinformation climatique : un risque systémique pour l’intégrité de l’information dans les médias allemands

The report identifies 47 uncontested cases of climate disinformation on six German TV channels from April 2025 to April 2026, noting that both public and private broadcasters are vulnerable. Political figures and guests are the primary sources of this disinformation, with a significant portion of cases focusing on the economic and technical reliability of the energy transition.

• Between April 2025 and April 2026, 47 instances of uncontested climate disinformation were identified across six German television channels. These cases were concentrated in four specific periods: May-June 2025 following federal elections, July 2025 during a major heatwave, October 2025 during federal budget negotiations and the release of the 'Monitoring-Bericht' energy transition report, and March-April 2026 following the adoption of the Klimaschutzprogramm 2026.
• Disinformation is primarily driven by external speakers, with politicians and guests accounting for 70% of cases. Specifically, political officials represent 39.5% of cases, guests represent 30.2%, and journalists and commentators account for over 30%.
• Both public and private broadcasters are susceptible to climate disinformation, unlike trends observed in other European countries like France. Sat.1 (private commercial) and ZDF (public) were identified as the channels most exposed to such disinformation.
• The majority of disinformation cases focus on the energy transition, specifically questioning its technical and economic reliability, as well as general climate policy. Other identified themes include the denial of climate science and the rejection of responsibility.
• Climate-related media coverage showed an upward trend, increasing from an average of 2.5% to 5% between April and December 2025 to between 5% and 7.5% starting in January 2026, excluding peaks.

APA

Sauvignon, J. (2026). La désinformation climatique : un risque systémique pour l’intégrité de l’information dans les médias allemands. QuotaClimat. https://quotaclimat.org/actualites/la-desinformation-climatique-un-risque-systemique-pour-lintegrite-de-linformation-dans-les-medias-allemands/

Chicago

Sauvignon, Jean. La désinformation climatique : un risque systémique pour l’intégrité de l’information dans les médias allemands. QuotaClimat, 2026. https://quotaclimat.org/actualites/la-desinformation-climatique-un-risque-systemique-pour-lintegrite-de-linformation-dans-les-medias-allemands/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sauvignon |first1=Jean |title=La désinformation climatique : un risque systémique pour l’intégrité de l’information dans les médias allemands |publisher=QuotaClimat |date=20 May 2026 |url=https://quotaclimat.org/actualites/la-desinformation-climatique-un-risque-systemique-pour-lintegrite-de-linformation-dans-les-medias-allemands/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sauvignon2026dsinformation, author = {Sauvignon, Jean}, title = {{La désinformation climatique : un risque systémique pour l’intégrité de l’information dans les médias allemands}}, institution = {QuotaClimat}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://quotaclimat.org/actualites/la-desinformation-climatique-un-risque-systemique-pour-lintegrite-de-linformation-dans-les-medias-allemands/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }