Disinformation is one of the largest growing threats to the climate movement. We build capacity within movement groups and mainstream media to act on disinformation via the rollout of decentralized and distributed tactics.
The rise of disinformation online poses a significant threat to social cohesion, democratic process, and public discourse worldwide. A coordinated network of disinformation actors, backed by powerful funders and think tanks, are seeking to polarize communities around key political issues and are then distributing these tactics around the world. These factors represent a serious threat to wider climate action and to grassroots climate activists at a personal and political level.
As a member of the global coalition Climate Action Against Disinformation, Roots uses a combination of capacity building, disruption, and public exposure to tackle and protect against climate disinformation. This includes creating networks of counter-disinformation activists in frontline climate regions who have been trained to identify, track, and disrupt it; working with researchers and analysts to conduct investigations into growing disinformation narratives that target the climate justice movement; and building resources for media and communicators to identify and report on climate disinformation in a way that minimizes its reach.