The Rise of Climate Conspiracy Post-COP28

In the ever-evolving discourse of global climate policy, COP28 (Conference of the Parties) marked a pivotal moment in the history of the global climate change fight. The conference, held in early December, took place during the globe’s warmest year on record. Despite the controversial reactions to the conference’s outcome, the event garnered significant attention online, resulting in a surge of conspiracy theories and accusations against current ecological agendas. COP28 reaffirmed human impact on global warming, underscored by King Charles’ poignant reminder that “the Earth does not belong to us.” Meanwhile, supporters of climate change denialism gained renewed momentum online. The “Climate Scam” or “Climate lie” tweets were aimed at the accounts of the officials participated at the COP28 and all the official accounts of the event.

Tweet by X user @middatyildiz addressed to the prominent public figures web accounts. Source

The most common narratives among those who opposed the climate change agendas are:

The warming of the planet is normal and is part of its natural cycles.

Comment on Reddit by user “Smoke-A-Beer” in the discussion “Canada produced nearly a quarter of the global wildlife emission in 2023: report“

Tweet by user @RealFreedomMike. Source

Climate change is used by international organizations to launder money.

Tweet by @liz_churchill10 garnered several thousands of retweets and likes, indicating growing support for the topic. Source: X

Climate change is caused by “Geoengineering” (term often used along with “chemtrails”).

Geoengineering is a conspiracy theory that expresses concerns that governments are using toxic chemicals to spread in the atmosphere. This theory is widespread in the online space and accumulates thousands of retweets

Climate change is nothing but a new religion of “Climatism” or “Climate Cult.”

Article by Josef Joffe of Hoover Institution from 2020 questioning the rationale behind climate activism and proposed actions. Source

The ideas mentioned in this articles are widespread and supported by users.

Reddit user’s comment under “I’m afraid climate change is going to kill me! Help!” discussion

Among others arguments are: 1.5 degree warming is too insignificant, it’s useless to make the industry use less of fossil fuel if we don’t make other countries do so, and the climate change fight measure will cause more harm than benefit.

Reddit user “endofsnow” expressed a view on the connection between climate change and China taking advantage of the climate situation.

COP28 gave public attention to groups and entities denying climate change.

Subreddit “r/climateskeptics” with 43,000 members. This group promotes climate change denialism referencing web sources as: wattsupwiththat.com, notrickszone.com, joannenova.com.au, climatedepot.com, etc. Source

The official year recap by Reddit shows statistics for communities on the forum. r/climatechange is a subreddit devoted to climate related discussions, and the community’s goal is to provide a “rational discussion” of the topic.

Statistics for r/climatechange Source: Reddit

Statistics for r/climateskeptics Source: Reddit

Climate change conspiracies have gained significant momentum in recent years, rapidly garnering attention. User engagement with these conspiracies is on par with or in some cases even surpasses that of mainstream climate change discussions on social media. These accounts predominantly originate from the US, Canada, and the UK, promoting conspiracy theories while often aligning with various movements, including anti-vaccination groups, specific political ideologies, and other conspiratorial beliefs. All of these factors contribute to a thriving online environment for the proliferation of various conspiracy theories.