The thermometer is soaring, glaciers are retreating, and extreme weather events are becoming the alarming new normal. While the global scientific community, almost unanimously, presents irrefutable data on the climate crisis, a parallel industry is working tirelessly. It doesn't extract oil or coal, but rather manufactures doubt, sows confusion, and pollutes our information ecosystem. It is the persistent and well-funded machinery of climate disinformation.
Make no mistake: the scientific debate on the anthropogenic origin of climate change is over. More than 99% of climatologists agree that human activities are the primary cause of global warming. However, this overwhelming certainty clashes head-on with a denial campaign that, far from abating, is refining its tactics and amplifying its reach.
Who benefits from this climate of lies? The clues are not difficult to follow. As documented in numerous investigations, the fossil fuel industries have historically been the main promoters of doubt. But they are not alone. They are joined by far-right political movements that have made denialism an ideological banner, large electricity companies reluctant to transform their business models, and sectors such as aviation and mass tourism, whose short-term sustainability depends on maintaining the status quo.
Their objective is clear and selfish: to protect their immediate profits, regardless of the medium- and long-term cost to the planet and the well-being of future generations. For them, the future is an externality that does not appear in their quarterly balance sheets.
To achieve this goal, anything goes. Disinformation takes many forms, from the crudest to the most sophisticated. A recent and blatant example was blaming renewable energy for a blackout in Spain, when in reality the cause lay in poor grid management and reliance on conventional sources. It's a classic tactic: creating a scapegoat to divert attention from the real problems and slow the energy transition.
This type of falsehood spreads at breakneck speed thanks to a toxic digital environment. Armies of bots and trolls, operating on social media, repeat baseless lies millions of times until, for a portion of the population, they acquire a semblance of truth. They create echo chambers where scientific evidence cannot penetrate.
This phenomenon is not merely a perception; it is a field of study. The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), a global initiative bringing together scientists and experts, analyzes precisely how this information pollution shapes public perceptions and hinders action. It’s work can be seen at: https://www.ipie.info/
Faced with this systematic assault on the truth and the collective future, warnings are no longer enough. Therefore, proposals like that of Elisa Morgera, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, resonate with unusual force. Morgera has suggested that climate misinformation, when generated deliberately and on a large scale by corporate actors such as the major fossil fuel industries, should be criminalized.
This idea, which might seem radical, is a logical and necessary response. If a company is penalized for polluting a river, why not do so when it contaminates the public debate with falsehoods that guarantee a global catastrophe?
The stakes are too high to continue applying a sieve. The fight against climate change is also a fight for the truth. The time for words, reports, and complaints has passed. It's time for decisive action, not only on energy and conservation policies, but also in defending our information environment.
Because in this battle, the truth is not only the first casualty; it's our most powerful tool for survival.
The time for words has passed, and we must move on to action.
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