Document details

Deny, Deceive, Delay (vol.2): Exposing New Trends in Climate Mis- and Disinformation at COP27

Climate Action Against Disinformation (2023), 43 pp.

Contains glossary pp. 42-43

"Analysis of over 850 advertisers between 1 September and 23 November 2022 showed a small cohort drove the majority of false or greenwashed advertising on Facebook, with activity peaking in the weeks preceding and during COP27. Common techniques included ‘nature-rinsing’, to distract and mislead audiences on net zero targets, as well as denial of climate science and emotional messaging around livelihoods, national security and sovereignty in relation to fossil fuels. Given the advertising spend identified, it is probable these messages were viewed by a wide audience at a key juncture in the climate agenda". (page 10) [...] "At COP26, outright denialism was seemingly outpaced by subtler ‘discourses of delay’ and attacks on climate action. In 2022, denialist content made a stark comeback on Twitter in particular, with the hashtag #ClimateScam spiking out of nowhere in July 2022. Since then, CAAD analysis has recorded over 362k mentions (including retweets) originating from over 91k unique users, with daily mentions never dropping below 1000 posts. The term often appears to be trending despite data that shows more activity and engagement on other hashtags such as #ClimateCrisis and #ClimateEmergency. The source of its virality, including explicit promotion via Twitter’s recommendation algorithm, is therefore unclear, and again highlights the need for transparency on how and why platforms surface content to users." (Page 17)
Introduction, 4
1 Monetised Greenwashing on Meta, 8
2 The Return of "Climate Scam', 17
3 Key Amplifiers and Narratives, 22
Annex: methodology, 39