Christian Downie addresses Senate Committee on climate misinformation

RegNet’s Professor Christian Downie appeared before the Senate Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy in late September. The Select Committee was appointed to examine the prevalence and impacts of misinformation and disinformation related to climate change and energy. In his appearance before the committee, Professor Downie made the following three key points:

1. There is accumulating evidence that efforts to address climate change have been unsuccessful because of the work to obstruct them.
2. There is a network of organizations that exists to influence the public, media, and political arenas to slow, stop, or reverse effective climate action. This is not only oil, gas and coal companies, but includes trade associations, think tanks, and PR firms, among many others.
3. There is considerable empirical evidence going back to at least the 1990s or before that the same types of organizations have been operating in Australia and spreading misinformation about climate change.

The submission draws on published research by Climate Social Science Network (CSSN) scholars, including a forthcoming book on the topic, Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment to be published by Oxford University Press in October.

Professor Downie is the Director of the Governing Energy Transitions (GET) Lab at the Australian National University. GET Lab is a home for researchers, policymakers and advocates seeking to advance the politics and governance of a clean energy transition. Global in focus and interdisciplinary in practice, its members’ research and teaching is driven by a desire to improve our understanding of the political and governance barriers to decarbonising our society. With scholars from across the social sciences, including political science, international relations, sociology, economics and law, its aim is to develop new strategies that address the complex governance challenges of the energy transition.