Message From the Editor

With the pivotal COP27 UN climate summit starting in Egypt on Sunday, the forces of climate denial and delay are likely to go into overdrive.

We wrote about some of them this week when we covered the PR firm that is both handling communications for COP27 and representing some of the largest fossil fuel companies and groups in the world, including Aramco, ExxonMobil, Shell, and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.

But, for a limited period we are going to try a new way to fight disinformation and denial. This week we launched DeBunk, a project that — like its name suggests — will debunk false climate narratives and arm you with the correct information about climate change.

Our plan is three-fold. First, we will rebut high-profile examples of climate misinformation on Twitter, and second, publish “cheat sheets” that collect and summarize the best available evidence to debunk these denial and delay arguments. Third, we will draw on our investigative journalism and Climate Disinformation Database to expose serial misinformers and their pro-fossil fuel agenda.

So when climate saboteurs take the mic, we will be ready — and you will be too.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmog.com. Want the scoop on new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s climate stance? Sign up for our UK newsletter.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. We’ll be sending a small but mighty team to COP27 to report on the gas lobby and climate denial, among other things. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support our team?

Image credit: Andy Carter

DeSmog Launches Project to ‘DeBunk’ Climate Misinformation

— By Adam Barnett (2 min. read) —

Anti-climate politicians, media and think tanks are pumping out false and misleading arguments which erode public support for climate action.

This misinformation is being pumped out when, as UN climate science body the IPCC has said, we have “a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all”.

‘Drop Fossil Fuels,’ Over 400 Scientists Tell PR Firm Handling UN Climate Talks

— By Dana Drugmand (5 min. read) —

Ahead of the COP27 UN climate summit, hundreds of scientists are calling on the PR firm in charge of the event’s communications, Hill+Knowlton, to cut ties with its fossil fuel industry clients, which include major oil companies Aramco, ExxonMobil, and Shell as well as an industry coalition called the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.

“These clients have not taken the fundamental steps necessary to address the climate emergency and sharply rein in fossil fuels,” states an open letter to Hill+Knowlton signed by over 420 scientists.

To Save the Amazon, Lula Must Defeat an Old Foe

— By Rich Collett-White (7 min. read) —

In his first speech after staging a stunning political comeback at Brazil’s presidential elections, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vowed to halt the Amazon deforestation that surged under outgoing rival Jair Bolsonaro.

In order to succeed, Lula won’t just need to face down farmers, loggers, and miners. He will also have to win a battle of ideas.

‘Wilful Ignorance’: Indigenous Delegation Incredulous At Bankers’ Attitude to Fossil Fuel Impacts

— By Matthew Green (5 min. read) —

Indigenous delegates said they had been amazed at the “wilful ignorance” they encountered when demanding global banks cease financing new fossil fuel projects on their ancestral lands in what is today North America.

The representatives of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and the Nahua nation in Mexico met with executives from HSBC, Barclays, and Credit Suisse in London this week to urge them to stop backing oil and gas pipelines and fracked gas export terminals.

Animal Agriculture Industry Commits Millions to Prominent University Animal Science Research Center, Documents Show

— By Michaela Herrmann (5 min. read) —

A prominent animal agriculture research center at a prestigious U.S. university is almost completely funded by the agribusiness industry, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and Unearthed.

The internal communications show how the charity arm of a prominent livestock industry group helped conceptualize and bring to life the CLEAR Center at the University of California Davis, which is led by Frank Mitloehner, a UC Davis Professor with a PhD in animal science.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Frank Mitloehner

Frank Mitloehner is a professor in the Department of Animal Science, and a “Cooperative Extension Air Quality Specialist,” at the University of California, Davis. Mitloehner is the founder and director of the Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research Center (CLEAR Center) at UC Davis. While Mitloehner regularly speaks about climate change and has written about the climate impact of burning fossil fuels, he often argues that animal agriculture is a leading industry in applying emissions reduction practices and technologies, and that livestock production can contribute to a reduction of methane – one of the most potent greenhouse gasses – in the atmosphere.
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.