Combating climate misinformation is one
of the priorities of the Polish Presidency

_{Publication date: January 15, 2025}

Over the next six months, Poland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This is a period during which our country has a real influence on setting the direction of action in key areas. 

As a Foundation, we had the honor of being part of the Council of Non-Governmental Organizations for the Polish Presidency of the EU Council. In recent months, we have actively collaborated with experts from other NGOs, striving to ensure that combating climate disinformation is included among the presidency’s priorities, emphasizing that countering it is a crucial element of Europe’s energy and political security. 

Together with other organizations, including Forum Energii, Instrat Foundation, the Polish Green Network, and Parents for Climate, as part of our participation in the Council, we: 

• highlighted the risks posed by disinformation, particularly its impact on destabilizing public debate, weakening support for the energy transition, and deepening social divisions, 

• supported the inclusion in the presidency’s agenda of measures to combat climate-related fake news, which aim to delay climate and energy reforms, keep Europe dependent on imported resources, and undermine trust in EU institutions, 

• called for the implementation of concrete actions, such as strengthening cooperation with independent fact-checking organizations, developing climate and digital education, and supporting local media and experts in identifying and countering information threats. 

We are pleased that resilience to foreign interference and disinformation has been selected as one of the main priorities of the Polish Presidency. We also welcome the priorities set by individual ministries: 

• Ministry of Climate and Environment: work on tools to combat climate disinformation, 

• Ministry of Digital Affairs: initiatives in cybersecurity and the development of systems for real-time incident reporting and response. 

The intensification of EU efforts to combat disinformation is an important step toward a more resilient and sustainable Europe. We hope that Poland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU will not be limited to declarations, but will become a period of intensive and concrete action.