In December 2024, we published our first international report. This report is a call to action, born of the realisation that we are at a historic turning point for the media and democracy.
Lead Author: Louna Wemaere, louna.wemaere@quotaclimat.org
After two years of media monitoring, QuotaClimat is today publishing an international report revealing an alarming increase in climate misinformation in the news media.
Between 2022 and 2024, QuotaClimat identified a significant increase in speeches questioning the scientific consensus on climate change. To date, 22 referrals for manually detected cases have been filed with the regulatory and self-regulatory bodies (Arcom and CDJM) by QuotaClimat. 12 are still being investigated, and 5 have resulted in positive opinions, warnings and a financial penalty of €20,000 (a world first).
In this report, entitled “Climate disinformation goes mainstream: time for strong media watchdogs”, QuotaClimat defines climate disinformation as speeches questioning the existence of climate change, human responsibility, its seriousness, or the solutions recommended by the IPCC, without contextualisation or contradiction.
This is not a political disagreement over energy or economic strategies, nor is it a question of editorial framing or prioritisation.
This distinction is essential to avoid both over-reaction, which would be detrimental to democratic debate and freedom of expression, and under-reaction, which would leave room for the proliferation of unmoderated disinformation in the public arena.
Far from being a distant or theoretical issue, climate misinformation is a powerful poison with material impacts on certain populations, economic competitiveness and democracy.
The report argues that the legal vacuum and loopholes in the regulatory framework make the media system as a whole vulnerable to climate misinformation.
At a time when media coverage of environmental issues is falling (-30% between 2023 and 2024 in the French audiovisual media, according to the Observatoire des Médias sur l’Ecologie), this report warns of the risks of a drift in information on ecological issues.
The cost of inaction is clear: democratic paralysis, the risk of public debate being captured by sectoral interests, industrialised disinformation, and a setback for environmental policies. In other words, direct repercussions on purchasing power, unanticipated health risks, outright violence against environmentalists and an insurance system that is ill-suited to the vagaries of the climate, to name but a few.
For this reason, passivity is not an option. Faced with these threats, the challenge is twofold: to strengthen media regulation while preserving editorial freedom. The fight against disinformation is not about muzzling debate, but about guaranteeing a framed democratic space where the right to reliable information coexists with freedom of expression.
What QuotaClimat suggests:
- Strengthen the existing regulatory framework to punish proven climate disinformation, and promote reliable, honest and objective journalistic work.
- Precisely characterise climate disinformation, to strengthen our information security by equipping public institutions and independent regulatory authorities to understand the nature and extent of the challenge, and effectively combat climate disinformation.
- Reaffirm the key role of the media and journalists as essential allies in the fight against climate misinformation. Everything is at stake: credibility, closeness to the public, editorial freedom and the protection of environmental journalism. We need to change the rules of the game to make all participants accountable.
The fight against climate misinformation must not rest solely on the shoulders of the public. Media education and critical thinking are important but insufficient levers in the face of increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns, facilitated by new artificial intelligence tools.
In 5 years’ time, NATO estimates that 90% of online content will be produced by artificial intelligence. The risk of disinformation will therefore increase tenfold.
The fight against disinformation is not an end in itself; it must be put at the service of a project to defend the editorial freedom of the media, democratic self-determination and social equality.
Contacts:
- Louna Wemaere, Lead Author, European Policy Officer: louna.wemaere@quotaclimat.org
- Eva Morel, Secretary General QuotaClimat : eva.morel@quotaclimat.org
