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Why the clean energy transition needs information integrity

   

by Juan Pablo Medina Bickel, Dido Gompertz, Sebastian Kiecker, 25 Aug 2026,
https://www.e3g.org/news/why-the-clean-energy-transition-needs-information-integrity/

The energy transition is accelerating, with renewable energy generation continuing to break records. Yet this is taking place in an increasingly contested information environment – one in which information manipulation can shape public perceptions, political discourses and ultimately the conditions for climate action.

This matters because climate and energy policy are politically sensitive. They are particularly vulnerable to attempts to influence public opinion, as it runs counter to the interests of political and economic incumbents benefiting from the fossil fuel economy. Rapid advances in generative AI and increasingly sophisticated digital tools are also lowering the cost and increasing the scale and speed at which misleading content can be produced and distributed.

Climate disinformation deliberately seeks to obstruct or delay climate action. At a time when the cost of living dominates headlines and public concerns, climate disinformation spreads misleading narratives or falsehoods about the affordability and reliability of renewable energy, from technical claims about inefficient infrastructure design and deployment to macroeconomic arguments about excessive state support and related fiscal burdens. The influence of these claims often relies on emotional manipulation that aligns with personal beliefs. As a common tactic, disinformation seeks to erode trust in scientific climate consensus to discredit climate policy itself.

Information integrity as a key solution

Beyond countering individual pieces of mis-or dis-information we need an information environment where civil society businesses and policymakers can access, understand and trust the information they need to make decisions about the energy transition. Information integrity enables access to reliable information about climate change and action. It also aims to protect scientific consensus by strengthening communication strategies and information channels that expose and counter information manipulation.
Despite the complex challenges that climate-related information integrity faces in today’s global political environment, the agenda is increasingly moving from the margins to the mainstream.

Turning global discussion into actions

At the international level, Brazil, the United Nations and UNESCO launched the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2024. The initiative aims to strengthen research and action addressing climate disinformation and to support more reliable information environments.

At COP30 in Belem, the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change was launched, establishing shared commitments to address climate disinformation and promote accurate, evidence-based information. The UNFCCC has subsequently described information integrity as central to effective climate action, highlighting the importance of reliable, science-based nformation for public trust, civic engagement and informed decision-making.
This is an important shift. Alongside its impact on communications in general, information integrity is increasingly recognised as part of the enabling infrastructure for climate action.

The economics of the transition are changing the information landscape

One of the most powerful ways to strengthen the information environment is also one of the simplest: ensuring public conversation reflects the rapidly changing reality of the energy system. Clean energy is now widely recognised as the most cost-effective power source in most of the world, playing a key role in bolstering national energy security amid volatile oil and gas markets. Despite growing political and economic headwinds against renewables, the strong deployment of renewable energy provides factual arguments to counter affordability and energy-security disinformation campaigns.

This does not mean that every renewable project is cheap, that deployment is frictionless, or that legitimate concerns about grids, permitting, supply chains and financing can be dismissed. In fact, acknowledging these challenges is essential to maintaining trust. But it does mean that political discussions about the transition need to keep pace with the underlying economics

Businesses are already responding to this changing landscape, including US investors. In a recent global business leader poll, 91% of executives say renewables-powered electrification would improve energy security, while 79% say geopolitical instability has made their own business shift to electrification more urgent.

Civil society at the heart of the solution

Academics, think-tanks, and NGOs have become key partners to governments, corporates, and multilateral organisations to leverage information integrity for climate change and action.

They play a key role in monitoring and exposing falsehoods through campaigns to counter viral climate disinformation. Their work also seeks to bridge public perception gaps and serve as a preventive measure before people encounter disinformation. These include underscoring the robust scientific consensus on human-induced climate change (97%) and the often-overlooked global public support (89%) for governments to take stronger climate action.

Actions also include strategic communication, which covers the promotion of trusted messengers to bring accessible and comprehensible science to different audiences across platforms. Advertisement campaigns also provide diverse frameworks and methodologies to expose corporate greenwashing, as well as support communities in overcoming climate misinformation and endorse renewable energy projects.

Ensuring the agenda takes hold

Despite the growing momentum behind the global information integrity agenda, it is key to extend its reach beyond experts so that a resilient information environment with accessible and comprehensive scientific information guides public and political discussions. For this, information integrity should be widely recognised as a key component of the critical infrastructure supporting the clean energy transition.

Recent spaces like COP30 and the Climate Summit during the UN General Assembly High-Level Week 2025, and civil society platforms such as London Climate Action Week in 2026, have brought information integrity to the centre of the clean energy transition agenda. More of these are needed.

Advancing the information integrity and climate action agenda depends on coalitions of diplomats, policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society progressing evidence-based discussions. Such collaborations enable mutual learning and strategic partnerships to build a secure and expansive information ecosystem that supports a rapid and ambitious transition to renewables.

September 2, 2026 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics