How Climate Disinformation Is Taking Center Stage at COP30

Climate disinformation and information integrity took center stage at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which kicked off on November 11 and runs until November 21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil.

COP30 Highlights Threat of Climate Change Disinformation

During this year’s COP30, and for the first time, climate disinformation and information integrity are officially on the agenda of the U.N. climate summit. This also marks the first time states have formally committed to promoting information integrity and tackling climate disinformation.

Amid rising climate falsehoods, and with the conference hosted in Belém, Brazil, the Brazilian president opened COP30 with a call for world leaders to defeat climate deniers.

“We live in an era in which obscurantists reject scientific evidence and attack institutions. It is time to deliver yet another defeat to denialism,” the Brazilian president stated.

He stressed that this edition will be the “COP of truth” in an era of “fake news and misrepresentation.”

Climate disinformation had already been a focus for the U.N. before the conference. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the need to tackle it, urging the world to “fight mis- and disinformation, online harassment, and greenwashing.”

New Declaration Officially Commits States To Fight Climate Disinformation

During the conference last Wednesday, the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change presented its declaration on information integrity, establishing shared international commitments to tackle climate disinformation and promote accurate, evidence-based information on climate issues. The event marked the first time states formally committed to upholding information integrity and combating climate disinformation.

Twelve nations — Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay — signed the first-ever declaration, pledging to fight climate disinformation and protect those on the frontlines of truth, including environmental journalists, scientists, and researchers.

The declaration commits its signatories to uphold the integrity of climate-related information at international, national, and local levels, in line with international human rights law and global agreements.

The document was drafted collaboratively with civil society members of the Global Initiative Advisory Group. It calls on governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and funders to take concrete action to counter the growing impacts of disinformation, misinformation, denialism and deliberate attacks on environmental journalists, defenders, scientists and researchers, which undermine climate action and threaten societal stability.

The declaration highlights that effective climate action depends on stakeholders having access to consistent, reliable, and evidence-based information in order to raise awareness, encourage public engagement, ensure accountability, and foster trust in urgent climate policies and initiatives.

It commits to safeguarding the integrity of climate information in accordance with international human rights standards and freedom of expression. Additionally, it promotes and supports a diverse and resilient media ecosystem to guarantee accurate and trustworthy reporting on climate and environmental issues.

The document also urges states to integrate information integrity commitments into the Action for Climate Empowerment agenda under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), promoting informed and inclusive climate action. This move includes advancing equitable access to accurate, evidence-based, and easily understandable information. It also includes fostering cooperation and capacity-building to address threats to information integrity and protect those reporting on or conducting research on climate issues.

Recognizing the global resources needed for such efforts, the declaration calls on governments to provide funding for research on climate information integrity. It also urges the private sector to uphold information integrity in their practices, ensuring transparent, human-rights–compliant advertising and supporting reliable journalism.

What Is the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change?

The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, structured around a Global Fund, an institutional agenda, and climate change campaigns, was established by the U.N., UNESCO, and the Government of Brazil and was announced at the G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024. It aims to investigate, expose, and dismantle climate-related disinformation while contributing to the socialization of the results of the research.

Bringing together countries, international organizations, and stakeholders worldwide, the initiative aims to promote policies that protect information integrity, safeguard actors reporting on climate issues, and support the development of informed and effective global climate action.

“Through this initiative, we will support the journalists and researchers investigating climate issues, sometimes at great risk to themselves, and fight the climate-related disinformation running rampant on social media,” says Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

The initiative was joined by U.N. member states — Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay — U.N. entities — U.N. Climate Change, the World Meteorological Organization — the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and civil society representatives.

According to the U.N.’s official website, the expanded membership reflects growing international recognition, considering threats to information integrity among the defining challenges of our time, undermining public debate and weakening societies’ ability to build collective solutions to the climate crisis.

The initiative operates through open calls for proposals, providing funding to not-for-profit organizations to conduct in-depth research and communicate accurate information on climate change.

Additionally, under the initiative’s umbrella, entities will form the first-ever global, interdisciplinary network to share findings, reveal the evolving mechanisms of climate mis- and disinformation, and produce actionable recommendations for innovative policies worldwide.

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