New Scientific Panel Addresses the ‘Perfect Storm’ of Climate Misinformation

October 14, 2024

Ensuring the integrity of climate science in an era of widespread misinformation is a pressing global challenge to be addressed by a new scientific panel under the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE).

As climate change has emerged as one of the most severe threats to human life, public understanding of the scientific consensus about the issue is crucial and will be the focus of the new Scientific Panel on Information Integrity about Climate Science.

Mis- and disinformation about climate science and about the necessary solutions to the climate crisis impact public opinion and derail climate initiatives around the world. Across social media, AI, and other platforms, public understanding of climate science increasingly reflects polarizing political positions. The new panel will synthesize the available scientific research on the nature of the problem as well as potential solutions including initiatives by tech platforms and the national and international political institutions responsible for addressing climate change.

The panel brings together top experts across scientific disciplines from around the world to assess the latest research on how the information environment (the mix of physical, social, and digital realms that shape our ways of communicating, interacting, and processing information across the globe) impact public understanding of climate change. The group will also offer recommendations on public policy, technology design, and oversight strategies that can promote public engagement with the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis is a scientific reality, with devastating real-life impact for millions of people, but it’s also a crisis of communication,” said Prof. Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Chair of the Panel. “Mis- and disinformation about climate change not only threatens our common environment but erodes trust in the national and international institutions we rely on to address this global emergency.

“We’re facing a dual challenge—climate change itself and a distortion of information that affects how the public responds to it. The perfect storm of climate misinformation makes it increasingly difficult for people to grasp the scientific reality of climate change. The panel will prepare an essential resource for defending climate science and helping it prevail in public discourse.”

Panel Member Professor Melissa Aronczyk said: “Social media platforms have become powerful tools for spreading misinformation about climate change, giving political and commercial actors easy means to manipulate public conversations in ways that conflict with scientific evidence.

“Adversarial information campaigns can not only distort the facts but also harass and attempt to silence the global scientific community. By undermining the public’s trust in science, these operations weaken the foundations of evidence-based policymaking and divide us at a time when collective action is critical.”

Professor Phil Howard, President and Co-founder of the IPIE said: “As hurricane after hurricane makes landfall, having clear communication about the immediate emergency response and the long-term consequences of climate change is critical.”

'"As more and more people feel the impact of our changing climate, it’s increasingly important that social media deliver accurate information about emergency response. Over the long term, it is also critical that evidence of climate change and what to do about it reaches everyone—whether or not they are impacted by regional disasters."

Defending Climate Science in the Digital Age

The Scientific Panel on Information Integrity about Climate Science will work with public agencies, social media platforms, and academic institutions to enhance collective understanding of the scientific consensus regarding climate change while simultaneously countering the circulation of mis- and disinformation that degrades public trust in the scientific consensus.

ENDS

For more information about the panel and a full list of its members click here.

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‍About IPIE

The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is an independent and global science organization committed to providing the most actionable scientific knowledge about threats to the world’s information environment. Based in Switzerland, the mission of the IPIE is to provide policymakers, industry, and civil society with independent scientific assessments on the global information environment by organizing, evaluating, and elevating research, with the broad aim of improving the global information environment. Hundreds of researchers from around the world contribute to the IPIE’s reports.

For media inquiries, interviews, or more information, please contact:

Kathryn Chapman at Kathryn.chapman@IPIE.info or press@IPIE.info.

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