Call for Papers: Workshop Climate Disinformation – European and Global Perspectives

The Open Society Hub for the Politics of the Anthropocene (OHPA) at the  Central European University (CEU) in Vienna (Austria) and the  Disinformation Research Cluster at the University of Sheffield (UK)  invite applications for research papers to be presented at a workshop.  The workshop aims to explore the multifaceted issues surrounding climate change disinformation and to develop strategies to counteract it.


Workshop Description:


Politically motivated disinformation aimed at polarising societies and undermining trust in democratic institutions is rampant across the world. Especially in Europe, political actors often linked to anti-establishment agendas have peddled falsehoods around divisive topics, including immigration, public health and climate change. The increase in the intentional spread of false information around these and other topics is well documented around electoral processes, from European to national and local elections. While, in most countries, it is local elites who are seen as the main sources of disinformation, in 
recent years, several countries have seen the rise of malign influence operations by foreign actors, particularly from Russia and China, who have used information manipulation techniques, including disinformation,  to weaken the EU and exacerbate social divisions, as seen during the  COVID-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Climate-related disinformation, particularly climate change denialism,  global conspiratorial narratives about the environment, and about decarbonisation processes, has been at the centre of many of these efforts by both domestic and foreign actors. Multiple studies have shown that climate-related disinformation is a significant barrier to effective actions to address climate change, as it fosters scepticism, denial, and contrarianism. The “Big Lie” around climate change is often 
propagated by a wide range of networks, which include politicians, think tanks, politically-motivated organisations, and anonymous agencies, who finance, produce, and amplify misleading content. This disinformation not only misleads the public but also undermines the scientific consensus on climate change, making it harder to achieve widespread 
acceptance and action.

While politicians around the world are increasingly taking decarbonisation seriously, climate change denialists continue to 
challenge the promotion of any “green agenda” in Europe. Climate denialism has become a tool for increasing electoral support and lobbying for reactionary environmental legislation. Various private companies often accept or encourage these policies. Some others engage in greenwashing, i.e., a deceptive practice where unscrupulous companies 
falsely portray themselves as environmentally friendly or sustainable, while their actions or products do not genuinely reflect these claims. Greenwashing creates scepticism among consumers regarding all “green agendas”, which can make it harder for genuinely green businesses and initiatives to gain support, as people become unsure of which claims are 
legitimate.

Major international organisations, such as UNESCO and the United Nations, emphasise the importance of official actions against climate change denialists. However, a deeper understanding is needed of how climate change disinformation spreads and how it can be tackled effectively. Particularly, more research is needed into assessing the effectiveness of commonly used strategies to combat this issue such as providing clear information about climate change (sometimes in the forms of fact-checks or corrections), highlighting scientific consensus, using culturally aligned messages and messengers, or employing pre-emptive measures such as inoculation.

Topics of interest: We invite papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the following issues:

Climate change disinformation: mapping the stakeholders contesting public perceptions of climate change and decarbonisation
Influence of political ideologies on climate change beliefs
Impact of Big Tech companies: investigating how technology and social media algorithms contribute to the spread of climate change denialism
Geopolitics, political warfare and climate change disinformation
Climate change scepticism in the “Global South”: exploring the dynamics of climate change scepticism in developing regions 
Challenges of greenwashing: eroding public trust and slowing down systemic change
Strategies for countering climate change disinformation

Workshop date and location: 7 March 2025 (preliminary date, tbc) at the Central European University, Vienna, Austria.

Eligibility: We welcome submissions from researchers, academics, and practitioners from various disciplines, including but not limited to Environmental Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Media Studies, and Science and Technology Studies. The organisers have a limited number of bursaries to support travel and accommodation costs for participants.

Submission guidelines: Authors are invited to submit an abstract of 500 words outlining their proposed paper’s key arguments, methodology, and relevance to the workshop themes.

Deadline for abstract submission: 30 November 2024. Authors of shortlisted abstracts will be notified by the end of 2024 and invited to present their full papers at the workshop, where they will receive feedback from experts in academia and beyond.

Funding and support: Central European University is pleased to offer funding for successful applicants. This funding will cover accommodation in Vienna and travel expenses within Europe.

Publication opportunities: Selected papers from the workshop may be considered for publication in an edited volume and a special journal issue.