ID: 1603
Presenting Author: Audrius Sabūnas
Session: 663 - Climate risks assessment in the age of climate misinformation
Status: pending
UNFCCC COPs have been used by some countries and non-state actors as a platform to spread disinformation about climate change or greenwash their efforts, as visible from their national statements.
Annual Conferences of the Parties in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP) are at the centre due to its principal role in climate negotiations between state and non-state actors. These conferences are highly responsible for the current climate change regime, i.e, how the governments address climate change and what kind of discourses persist. Each Party of the UNFCCC has an opportunity to deliver its speech during the High-level segment session of the UNFCCC COP. The conferences attract a growing number of non-governmental organisations, the private sector, intergovernmental organisations, researchers and scholars, and the media. However, a right of each Party to issue a national statement at the High-level segment session means that the UNFCCC COP can be used as a venue to spread misinformation related to climate change and greenwash individual countries‘ efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change by less committed Parties. This study examines the prevalence of inaccurate information about the role of fossil fuels and climate change by analysing national statements delivered during the high-level segment at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. As climate change misinformation frequently challenges the scientific consensus, downplaying the necessity and long-term benefits of effective mitigation, it is crucial to identify and counter these trends.
Assistant Professor at the International Christian University (Japan). Background: PhD in Engineering (Kyoto U.), MSc in Energy Physics (VMU). Main focus: Interdisciplinary Climate change research.