COP30, Belém, Brazil – This week, the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change unveiled the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change at COP30, creating global pledges to combat climate misinformation and advance truthful, fact-based information on climate-related topics.
In accordance with international human rights legislation and the tenets of the Paris Agreement, the Declaration pledges signatories to advance the accuracy of climate change-related information at the international, national, and local levels.
Ten nations have already signed the Declaration, which was endorsed in cooperation with civil society members of the Global Initiative Advisory Group: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Uruguay.
“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.”
Governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and funders are urged by the Declaration to take decisive action to combat the increasing influence of misinformation, denialism, and intentional attacks on environmental journalists, defenders, scientists, and researchers that undermine climate action and jeopardise social stability.
“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 organisations are working together to fund research and action promoting information integrity on climate issues. Scientists and researchers should never fear telling the truth.”
How the initiative will support journalists and researchers
“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.
The Declaration highlights that to mobilise all societal actors, they must have access to consistent, trustworthy, accurate, and evidence-based information about climate change.
https://twitter.com/UN_News_Centre/status/1988726469481370083
This information is essential for increasing public awareness, encouraging public participation, facilitating accountability, and fostering public trust in urgent climate policies and actions.
Key Commitments
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
The Declaration urges governments to guarantee funding for climate information integrity research, particularly in developing nations, as resources are falling short of needs worldwide.
Additionally, it calls on the commercial sector to provide open, human rights-conscious advertising practices that uphold information integrity and promote trustworthy journalism.
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