Welcome back to COP, Look, Listen. Many countries are using COP29 as their opportunity to set their emissions reduction roadmaps to 2035 via their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Per the Paris agreement, the next tranche is required by February 2025. Troika nations UAE and Brazil launched theirs, with critics saying there is “work to be done [to] deliver the level of emissions reductions needed”, while the UK stood out as stepping “boldly forward” with “the kind of leadership that is welcome and much needed” - provided the country follows up with actions, of course.

Despite the benefits this climate action will bring the UK’s people - and not to mention lowering bills and fulfilling its Paris Agreement obligations - the mis- and disinformation ecosystem is trying to punish the UK’s new government for its ambition. A key driver of this disinformation ecosystem is a broadcaster that is younger than the Paris agreement itself: GB News.

FINDING OF THE DAY

We recorded GB News live on Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th November. We used a transcriber to help assess which segments mentioned COP29 or other climate-related content. An analyst then watched the relevant segments to check for climate narratives. Due to the methodology and the nature of the research, we have not linked all of the claims below, but many can be found by looking at the GB News archive for those two days on Youtube. 

Across two days of live broadcasting, 41.2% (30/72) half-hour segments contained highly negative content about COP, Starmer’s attendance, or the UK’s climate ambition. Some segments, which included neutral readouts of COP or climate related headlines, were not included in this total. In these negative segments, presenters and guests:

• Undermined confidence in COP.

  • COP29 was dubbed a “pointless exercise” and “absurd”, with the false statement that the UK Prime Minister Starmer is the “only” representative for Western leaders. With India and China also not at COP, Britain was said to be “out on its lonesome” and Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev’s “gift from God” comment was used as supporting evidence.

  • Starmer was said to just be there for a “jolly” (given the context, this in British slang means a paid holiday).

  • Many jokes were made about the attendance of the Taliban, and Starmer was falsely said to be “schmoozing with the Taliban”.

  • Current Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero Claire Coutinho said “we are just 1% of global emissions” and that “ours are falling” and (falsely) “elsewhere they’re rising”.

• Criticised the UK’s climate targets.

  • Presenters and guests called the 81% reduction by 2035 target “bizarrely specific”, “unrealistic” and “ludicrous”.

  • Coutinho, who appeared on multiple segments, said the targets are making people “poorer” and the public “unhappy”. Another guest heavily implied that renewable energy targets have given the UK the “most expensive electricity in the world”. 

• Promoted fossil fuels instead.

  • Ex-Member of Parliament and current GB News host Jacob Rees-Mogg said “I think the President of Azerbaijan is absolutely spot on. Hydrocarbons are a gift of God… they have made us more prosperous … a great miracle.” 

  • Coutinho said we need fossil fuels for “cheap power”.

  • Other guests framed Trump as a realist on energy policy, celebrating his intention to extract more fossil fuels.

• Attacked Starmer and Climate Secretary Ed Miliband.

  • Starmer was called out for his air miles, especially for flying to and from the conference itself. This hypocrisy angle comes up every year at the start of COP.

  • Rees-Mogg asked to have Azerbaijan President Aliyev govern the UK instead, saying we should “swap…Starmer with his Azeri counterpart”. 

  • Attacks on Secretary of State for Climate and Net Zero Ed Miliband, who was branded a “mad zealot” that talks “bile”, among other things.

In just two days, GB News managed to present a large subset of some of the most popular anti-climate narratives seen in the last two years in the UK. The guests on the programme also represent a striking cross-section of climate misinformation networks in the UK. This list includes:

• Right-wing politicians - specifically ones known for their hard anti-climate stances.

• Employees from anti-climate action thinktanks the Global Warming Policy Foundation and RealClear Foundation.

• Disinfluencer Bjorn Lomborg.

• Journalists from media outlets, in this case The Spectator (and also Spiked, on the 13th November).

Who are GB News?

Founded in 2021 with an approach, according to its founding Chairman, reminiscent of the US’s Fox News, GB News has major ties to fossil fuel money, including in its majority ownership by Dubai-investment firm, Legatum. While the network is a loss-making venture due to its small live viewership and modest advertising base, its value comes from churning out constant opposition to climate science and climate action narratives - amongst other misleading or disinforming content. This content provides fodder for others who wish to publish anti-climate narratives, meaning its ‘viral’ clips show up particularly on social media as outrage bait. 

GB News strengthens anti-climate networks by packaging narratives that inform talking points, increases guests’ clout and narratives’ credence over time, shifts the overton window and ultimately blocks climate action. In 2023, this worked. When Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak watered down the UK’s climate policies, Desmog reported that “this retreat did not happen in a vacuum, but was fuelled by a steady campaign by a network of climate science deniers and fossil fuel interests”, including GB News. The Financial Times also observed that Sunak “courted” GB News, and was “happy to echo” its themes, crediting the channel with “shaping the way the right thinks about politics”.

Is it working?

GB News is just one of the many actors we’ve seen spread false and misleading narratives in the opening days of COP. Relative to last year, our monitoring has found that UK climate misinformation networks are more active than in the US, showing that countries with a stronger outlook on climate action can face more opposition online.

The UK risks moving to a space where local and national government officials have little to gain politically by implementing strong climate policy, but quite a lot to lose. Manufactured controversies like the 15 minute conspiracy theory, which centred on Oxford in the UK, can chill local decision making. 

The barrage of criticism can also convince leaders to take counter-action, like PM Starmer’s recent editorial in UK tabloid The Sun. Starmer’s editorial is principally about the questionable fossil-fuel oriented approach of carbon capture. However, he calls some climate activists “Net Zero extremists” - the same language used by right-wing media and influence groups for years to enforce stricter security and even condone violence on those activists. 

What now?

We talked to Richard Wilson of Stop Funding Heat, who told us: 

"GB News can’t win the climate argument on the basis of science – which clearly demonstrates the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels. So instead they’re working to toxify the debate, with ad hominem attacks and a barrage of misleading claims about Britain’s clean energy plans. 

But the media’s reliance on advertising means that there’s something each of us can do to push back. Thanks to the efforts of Stop Funding Heat and Stop Funding Hate supporters, the channel is facing – by its own admission - a “massive advertising boycott”, as high profile brands steer clear of its toxic content.

By contacting the companies who advertise on GB News or other such media – whether on the TV station itself or on its website and YouTube channels – we can help to defund climate denial and discourage other media from following a similar path."

GOOD TO KNOW

Bring on the beef… Nearly 100 experts and organisations signed on to an open letter launched today from the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition. The letter calls on governments to act on climate disinformation, targeting leaders at the upcoming G20 summit to beef up the co-led Brazil & UN global initiative on countering dis- and misinformation. Some key asks relate to acknowledging the threat disinfo brings, adopt a universal definition (CAAD conveniently has one handy for you) and a call to hold tech platforms accountable in their role in enabling the spread of disinformation. Let's see how this lands next week as G20 kicks off in Rio.

Look what's not on the menu… A group of technology and climate change researchers are decrying the failure to include mis- and disinformation on the conference agenda. “Disinformation doesn’t just distort public debate—it obstructs the necessary decisions that affect the future of our planet”, said Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen of the International Panel on the Information Environment in a statement. No argument from us, we checked all the leaders’ speeches from the opening days, and disinformation didn’t feature in any of those either - with one notable exception.

Unwelcome dinner guests. Unsurprisingly, fossil fuel giants have slipped into the front door of the COP29 climate talks and paid for a proverbial seat at the summit. They’ve dropped thousands on sponsored events in Baku. For those looking for a live show of the mis- and disinformation, front row and centre, check out the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) pavilion in the Blue Zone. IETA is a business lobby comprised of some of the world’s largest fossil fuel producers and greenhouse gas emitters. They are hosting a series of events in its COP29 BusinessHub pavilion, sponsored by oil and gas giants including Chevron, ExxonMobil, SOCAR, and TotalEnergies.

Here's an actual event you should unironically go to. Should you tire of such fossil fuel backed mouthpieces, we highly recommend getting front row and centre at this Saturday’s event 4:20 - 5:30pm GMT+4 at the Business Pavilion to discuss corporate accountability on climate policy influencing. Bonus points if you bring an IETA friend, though.

Oh, OPEC. Last week was African Energy Week, at which OPEC said that carbon capture is the way forward. The Secretary General, Haitham Al Ghais, even claimed that “Oil and gas are not the culprit but part of the solution”. Um, no. Expect plenty more from OPEC, like the fiery (and false) letter it sent in response to a scientific paper during COP28.

GREENWASHING TRACKER

Welcome back to our regular feature, the greenwashing tracker! The abundance of deceptive promotions by the fossil fuel industry, especially during COP, is a lot to get your head around. We’ve got you covered. 

Found something particularly interesting? Send it our way at contact@caad.info

If you have any investigative leads CAAD should explore, or want to find out more about our research and intel during COP, please email contact@caad.info. We also have team members on the ground in Azerbaijan who are available for interviews and side-events. 

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