New research has found that fossil fuel companies spent millions of dollars on advertisements containing climate disinformation and greenwashing attempts during the COP27 climate summit in November 2022.
Analysis of fake information and misleading claims circulating online during the Cop27 summit in Egypt was done by the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) and it was found that a sample of fossil fuel sector-linked entities spent approximately $4m on Meta for paid advertisements to spread false, misleading claims on the climate crisis, net-zero targets and the necessity of fossil fuels prior to and during Cop27.
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The report showed that 3,781 adverts were identified in the analysis, the majority of which were from a PR group of the American Petroleum Institute called Energy Citizens, and it also found that America’s Plastic Makers alone spent over $1m and the Saudi Green Initiative ran 13 ads.
The report says there was a surprising increase in content related to outright climate denial, including a spike on Twitter for the hashtag #ClimateScam since July 2022, months before the summit began.
These adverts exploited issues like the cost of living to justify the use of fossil fuels, which remain the dominant cause of planet-warming greenhouse gases, and created false doubts about the reliability of green technology.
A broader scepticism over the climate crisis was also promoted through a “narrative playbook”, tying climate change concerns to “wokeness”.
“The events of 2022 turbocharged a global ecosystem for disinformation,” said Jennie King, head of climate research and response at ISD. “Russia’s war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supply chains have renewed anti-climate attacks globally.
King further states that state actors and lobbyists are attempting to ‘woke wash’ their opposition to climate action and attacks on climate movements are becoming increasingly extreme.
Story was adapted from Independent.
