Nearly a dozen countries have signed the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change launched at COP 30 in Brazil by The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. The declaration establishes shared international commitments to address climate disinformation and promote accurate, evidence-based information on climate issues.
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay, and Belgium have signed The Declaration, committing themselves to promote the integrity of information related to climate change at international, national and local levels, in line with international human rights law and the principles of the Paris Agreement.
“Climate change is no longer a threat of the future; it is a tragedy of the present,” said President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Belém. “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 Declaration calls on governments, the private sector, civil society, academia and funders to take concrete action to counter the growing impact of disinformation, misinformation, denialism and deliberate attacks on environmental journalists, defenders, scientists and researchers that undermine climate action and threaten societal stability.
It specifically calls on technology companies to assess whether and how platform architecture contributes to the undermining of climate information ecosystem integrity, providing researchers with access to data to ensure transparency and build an evidence base.
“We must fight mis- and disinformation, online harassment, and greenwashing,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in the lead-up to COP30. “Through the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, Governments and organizations are working together to fund research and action promoting information integrity on climate issues. Scientists and researchers should never fear telling the truth.”
“Without access to reliable information about climate disruption we can never hope to overcome it. 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,” urged Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General, at the launch of the Initiative.
Under the Declaration, signatories commit to:
- Promote the integrity of information related to climate change in line with international human rights law, including freedom of expression standards
- Support the sustainability of a diverse and resilient media ecosystem to ensure accurate and reliable coverage on climate and environmental issues
- Support the inclusion of information integrity commitments into the Action for Climate Empowerment agenda under the UNFCCC
- Promote informed and inclusive climate action by advancing equitable access to accurate, evidence-based, understandable information for all
- Foster cooperation and capacity-building to address threats to information integrity, safeguarding those reporting on and researching climate issues
It also urges the private sector to commit to information integrity in their business practices and ensure transparent, human-rights responsible advertising practices that bolster information integrity and support reliable journalism.
