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"The climate emergency cannot be confronted while online public and political discourse is polluted by fear, hate, confusion, and conspiracy," one campaigner warned.
Members of a global coalition on Thursday released a report detailing "significant and immediate dangers" that artificial intelligence poses to the climate emergency.
"AI companies spread hype that they might save the planet, but currently they are doing just the opposite," said Michael Khoo at Friends of the Earth, part of the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition. "AI companies risk turbocharging climate disinformation, and their energy use is causing a dangerous increase to overall U.S. consumption, with a corresponding increase of carbon emissions."
As AI has rapidly developed over the past year, global leaders and experts—from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists—have sounded the alarm about the technology furthering disinformation on all topics.
The World Economic Forum earlier this year "identified AI-generated mis- and disinformation as the world's greatest threat (followed by climate change)," notes the new CAAD report. Citing cases in Slovakia and the United States, it says that "the world is already seeing how AI is being used for political disinformation campaigns."
"AI models will allow climate disinformation professionals and the fossil fuel industry to build on their decades of disinformation campaigns."
"AI models will allow climate disinformation professionals and the fossil fuel industry to build on their decades of disinformation campaigns," the document warns. "More recent attempts, such as falsely blaming wind power as a cause of whale deaths in New Jersey or power outages in Texas, have already been effective."
The publication specifically points to potential abuse of generative artificial intelligence, systems that create content—including text, images, music, and videos—in response to prompts. It states that "generative AI will make such campaigns vastly easier, quicker, and cheaper to produce, while also enabling it to spread further and faster."
Such content can include deepfakes, audio or video of a person appearing to say something they never did. The publication highlights that "an August 2023 study focusing on climate change-related deepfakes found over a quarter of respondents across age groups were unable to identify whether videos were fake."
"Adding to this threat, social media companies have shown declining interest in stopping disinformation, reducing trust and safety team staffing," the document stresses.
Invoking an old Facebook motto, Kairos Fellowship's Nicole Sugerman said that "we must not allow another 'move fast and break things' era in tech; we've already seen how the rapid, unregulated growth of social media platforms led to previously unimaginable levels of online and offline harm and violence."
In addition to social media, the report outlines concerns about disinformation spreading via large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, search engines, and online advertising. Sarah Kay Wiley, director of policy at Check My Ads, noted that "we are already seeing how generative AI is being weaponized to spin up climate disinformation or copy legitimate news sites to siphon off advertising revenue."
"Adtech companies are woefully unprepared to deal with generative AI and the opaque nature of the digital advertising industry means advertisers are not in control of where their ad dollars are going," she continued. "Regulation is needed to help build transparency and accountability to ensure advertisers are able to decide whether to support AI-generated content."
Oliver Hayes at CAAD member Global Action Plan also demanded swift intervention, arguing that "the climate emergency cannot be confronted while online public and political discourse is polluted by fear, hate, confusion, and conspiracy."
"In a year when 2 billion people are heading to the polls, this represents an existential threat to climate action."
"In a year when 2 billion people are heading to the polls, this represents an existential threat to climate action," he said. "We should stop looking at AI through the 'benefit-only' analysis and recognize that, in order to secure robust democracies and equitable climate policy, we must rein in Big Tech and regulate AI."
The report features recommendations for companies, lawmakers, and regulators to boost accountability, safety, and transparency related to AI. The suggestions echo coalition letters to U.S. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and apply to not only disinformation but also energy and water use.
The limited company statements that are available and independent research show that the proliferation of LLMs "is already causing energy use to skyrocket," which "comes on top of the highest rate of increase in U.S. energy consumption levels since the 1990s," the document notes.
On top of that, "training large language models such as GPT-3 can require millions of liters of freshwater for both cooling and electricity generation," the report explains. "This thirsty industry therefore contributes to local water scarcity in areas that are already vulnerable, and could exacerbate risk and intensity of water stress and drought with greater computing demands."
Greenpeace USA senior strategist Charlie Cray said that "the skyrocketing use of electricity and water, combined with its ability to rapidly spread disinformation, makes AI one of the greatest emerging climate threat-multipliers."
"Governments and companies must stop pretending that increasing equipment efficiencies and directing AI tools towards weather disaster responses are enough to mitigate AI's contribution to the climate emergency," he added.
"Digital platforms continue to provide vested fossil fuel actors with a cheap and easy way to disinform the public about climate change," said one campaigner.
An analysis published Wednesday shows that major fossil fuel corporations have pumped millions of dollars into digital advertising this year in the lead-up to the COP28 talks, part of a broader campaign that has inundated social media with disinformation in an attempt to undermine climate science and action.
The new report from the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition examines three groups that are largely responsible for the spread of climate disinformation online: the fossil fuel lobby, state-affiliated media networks, and online influencers who boost false information published by right-wing websites such as Breitbart.
The report estimates that just 13 oil and gas companies spent between $4.13 and $5.21 million on Facebook advertising between January and October 2023—a likely undercount, given that the platform's ad library doesn't provide details on ads not classified as related to social issues, politics, or elections.
Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies accounted for 98% of the ad spending, CAAD found, with Shell spending more than the other companies.
The report argues that the fossil fuel industry's online ad campaigns reflect a "shift from climate denial to subtler forms of 'delayism' and 'inactivism.'"
"Whether via traditional and digital ad spend, proxy group campaigning, or even the use of paid-for 'influencers' on social media, industry is now marshaling its PR around two parallel (and contradictory) fronts in tandem," the report states.
The first front is "promoting the continued and 'absolute' necessity of oil and fossil gas to economies around the globe, especially in the wake of concurrent global crises" such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The second front, according to the new report, is "overselling the contribution of industry actors to achieving 'net zero.'"
The report points to a BP Facebook ad that claims the company is "increasing investment in the transition to lower carbon energy and keeping oil and gas flowing where it is needed," suggesting that the continued extraction of fossil fuels is necessary as the world shifts toward renewables.
"And, not or," reads the sponsored post, which received nearly 4 million impressions.
The CAAD analysis goes on to highlight an ad from TotalEnergies touting biogas as a "renewable energy," a characterization that experts and advocates have said is misleading.
"Digital platforms continue to provide vested fossil fuel actors with a cheap and easy way to disinform the public about climate change," Faye Holder, program manager at Influence Map, said in a statement Wednesday. "Over the past year, there has been a lot of positive momentum around tackling greenwash and disinformation, but this report shows us there is still a long way to go. And with platforms failing to implement even their own partial policies, the need for legislation protecting the public's right to accurate information is paramount."
The report also examines the proliferation of climate lies on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Since December 2022, #ClimateScam has outperformed both #ClimateCrisis and #ClimateEmergency every month on X... regardless of whether you measure by retweets or likes," the report notes. "In July 2023, when use and retweets of all three hashtags surged, the most widely shared posts focused on these events. (Looking ahead to COP28, it is worth noting that November 2022 also saw a small uptick for #ClimateScam and #ClimateCrisis; a trend which may be repeated this year.)"
Published on the eve of COP28, the report provides further evidence that the fossil fuel industry is prepared to use its vast influence and resources to derail another critical chance to rein in oil and gas production that is pushing global temperatures to record highs and driving increasingly deadly weather events.
"The world is grappling with an environmental crisis compounded by an information crisis," said Jennie King, head of climate research and policy at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and CAAD's intelligence lead. "2023 is set to be the hottest year on record, yet the urgent climate action we need is beset by denialism and viral campaigns that reject the scientific consensus."
"Such content not only undermines public support, but increasingly erodes trust in institutions and is producing violent outcomes," King added. "The professionalized efforts of the fossil fuel lobby are now intersecting with state-sponsored PR, online grifters, and commercial disinformers. We must recognize the threat of mis- and disinformation for what it is: a barrier to cohesion, to action, and to a livable future for all."
"It's time for YouTube to step up, detox its platform, and protect the integrity of the fight against the climate crisis," said Ekō's campaign director.
Google-owned YouTube is again facing allegations of profiting from not enforcing its own ban on the monetization of climate misinformation, this time in a report published Friday amid legislative battles in Brazil over policies on the Amazon rainforest, Indigenous rights, and social media.
Google announced in October 2021 that for advertisers and publishers along with creators on its video platform YouTube, the company would "prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change."
For four weeks, researchers with Ekō—a group formerly known as SumOfUs that works to curb the power of big corporations—reviewed 60 YouTube videos in English and Portuguese that contained disinformation and conspiracy theories about Amazon deforestation, Indigenous rights, and the climate emergency.
Over two-thirds of the videos were monetized, and Ekō identified more than 150 brands in the ads. Using a common industry tool, researchers estimated that the channels—which collectively had over 40 million subscribers and more than 5 million views—earn $636,000 to $10.1 million a year through monetization.
"The proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theories are helping to derail efforts by the Lula administration to advance policy agendas around Amazon protection, Indigenous land rights, and social media regulation."
"Well-known Brazilian and global brands like Lyft, Calvin Klein, Budweiser, Panasonic, and Samsung, as well as environmental and human rights groups like Friends of the Earth U.K., UNICEF, and the Peace Corps, are appearing next to extreme climate denial content and conspiracy theories," the report states, "effectively pouring money into the pockets of conspiracy theorists and climate deniers."
"Ekō researchers found top-name apparel, electronics, and drink brands appearing next to videos suggesting actor Leonardo DiCaprio funded nongovernmental organizations to commit arson in the Amazon," the publication continues. "Other false claims include that the rainforest is too humid to catch fire, and that manmade global warming is a lie."
"The proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theories are helping to derail efforts by the Lula administration to advance policy agendas around Amazon protection, Indigenous land rights, and social media regulation," the document adds, pushing for policy "that prevents platforms from monetizing and profiting from disinformation and lies that are subverting the legislative process."
In a statement Friday, Ekō campaign director Vicky Wyatt also demanded action from the company.
"While global warming, deforestation, and wildfires reach their highest levels ever recorded, YouTube's shameless greenwashing is exposed—with the company giving profits to climate deniers to the tune of millions," said Wyatt. "This is a clear slap in the face to the brands whose advertisements unknowingly support climate disinformation. It's time for YouTube to step up, detox its platform, and protect the integrity of the fight against the climate crisis."
Ekō's analysis follows a May report from Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) for which researchers found 200 YouTube videos containing climate mis- and disinformation. The videos had a total of 73.8 million views and all had featured ads.
YouTube spokesperson Michael Aciman toldEngadget in response to those findings that the company is "constantly working" to remove content that violates its rules and welcomes third-party feedback to "help improve the accuracy of our enforcement over time."
"In 2021, we launched a new, industry-leading policy that explicitly prohibits ads from running on content promoting false claims about the existence and causes of climate change, which we designed in consultation with experts and authoritative sources on climate science," Aciman also said. "We do allow policy debate or discussions of climate-related initiatives, but when content crosses the line to climate change denial, we remove ads from serving on those videos.”
Meanwhile, Callum Hood, head of research at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, part of the CAAD coalition, said at the time that "despite Google's green grandstanding, its ads continue to fuel the climate denial industry."
"Whether it's taking cash to target users with climate disinformation, or running ads that make climate denial content profitable, the company is selling out," Hood added. "Tech companies make big promises on hate and misinformation because they know it's hard to see if they've kept them. We need to force Google to open up the black box of its advertising business."