Just as climate change is a fact, the disinformation associated with it is a real and pressing issue that needs to be addressed. Discussions about climate change and its related consequences, challenges, and solutions are becoming increasingly common. Our media analysis, covering only four months of 2023, revealed a sharp rise in online discussions on climate and environmental topics. Issues related to energy transformation, climate policy, mobility, and green cities were raised more than 290,000 times in Polish online spaces and viewed over one billion times!
Providing accurate information about the climate, as well as highlighting the proper pro-climate solutions, is a challenge hindered by obstacles such as fake news, polarization, lack of digital skills, and denialist and obstructive narratives. Journalists and online creators are on the front lines of this battle, requiring reliable knowledge, access to the best tools, expert support, as well as trust and collaboration within their community.
At the Climate&Strategy Foundation, we have been closely examining this issue for some time, studying it and engaging in conversations with journalists about the challenges they face and potential solutions. Based on this, we have launched a range of educational, networking, and activating initiatives aimed at supporting the journalistic and online creator communities in their journey toward building credible, responsible, and impactful climate journalism.
The role of the media is to verify whether the climate plans and promises of companies truly contribute to the fight against global warming, or if they are simply instances of greenwashing. This task is not easy, as it requires journalists to navigate through a maze of new regulations and recommendations, while also possessing up-to-date knowledge on climate change and related issues.
Our mission is to share expert knowledge and experience in this field, which is why we have prepared two publications aimed at journalists. The first one – created in collaboration with the editorial team of Zielona.Gazeta.pl and experts from other NGOs – is the guide “How to Write About Climate?”, which includes a list of tools, best practices, and a compact knowledge base on climate, carbon footprint, and greenwashing. The second publication – “How to Write About Climate 2.0: What is Climate Disinformation and How to Combat It?” – is entirely dedicated to the mechanisms of climate disinformation. Authors Patryk Strzałkowski and Filip Szulik-Szarecki demonstrate how to recognize and counter false narratives that may hinder the necessary transformation.
Climate-related topics should permanently serve as an important context for economic, social, and cultural articles, both for journalists and editors and publishers. However, this is not the case, and journalists writing about climate must additionally confront climate deniers and disinformation while navigating the changing political landscape. Recognizing the urgent need to honor those taking on this challenge and appreciate their work, we, in collaboration with Radio ZET, created Poland’s first “Journalist for the Planet” award, which was introduced as a new category in the prestigious Andrzej Woyciechowski competition, held for 20 years. Its purpose is to distinguish journalists who demonstrate a climate responsibility in their daily work, possess a deep understanding of the topic, and show sensitivity to climate issues.
Through this, we aim to honor the tireless efforts of those raising important and challenging climate issues and actively combating greenwashing and false climate narratives.
Trust in the media has significantly declined in recent years. Additionally, topics related to climate change, energy transformation, and EU climate policy polarize society and are areas for spreading disinformation or political manipulation, leading to narrative chaos. In response to this challenge, we created the Climate Journalism Working Group – a space where journalists can develop their skills in combating disinformation, train with the best experts from Poland and abroad, discover new tools, and plan joint journalistic interventions while strengthening cooperation.
This initiative was directed at engaged professionals who wish to actively contribute to the development of climate journalism in Poland, believing that they will inspire others in the field. In two editions of the project, several dozen leading climate journalists representing major media outlets in Poland (Gazeta.pl, Interia.pl, OKO Press, Radio ZET, 300 Gospodarka) and online creators addressing climate and environmental issues participated.
Fake news spreads much faster than true information, the topic of climate change often stirs extreme emotions, and the science behind it uses complex terminology. In these circumstances, it is crucial to have the ability to quickly verify the truthfulness of information, access reliable and up-to-date knowledge sources, and appropriately explain complicated content.
With this in mind, we created the Climate Knowledge Base, a free repository of scientific publications, reports, articles, and podcasts on climate. In 2022, we actively participated in the development of this tool, and in 2023, we took full responsibility for its care, ensuring its continuous development and promotion. Dr. Agnieszka Liszka-Dobrowolska, co-founder of the Climate&Strategy Foundation, is a member of the Expert Council of the Climate Knowledge Base, alongside other individuals representing 20 leading NGOs, academic centers, and research institutions in Poland working on climate issues.
Research shows that prebunking, which involves the preventive exposure and debunking of anticipated false narratives, is an effective method for combating climate disinformation. With this in mind, and recognizing the likelihood of various narratives manipulating the climate topic in the context of parliamentary elections, we created a series of prebunking podcasts titled “Wybieram Klimaty” (I Choose Climate).
During four episodes, leading podcasters and journalists asked questions about energy transformation, clean air, international agreements, and climate disinformation. Together with experts, they sought to predict how these topics might be manipulated during the elections and raise listeners’ awareness, equipping them with reliable knowledge.
Climate change is a topic that requires accuracy, sensitivity, and the ability to separate facts from narratives that serve business or political interests. This is why we launched the Journalists for the Planet project – as a response to the growing issue of climate disinformation. Our goal is to build the prestige of climate journalism and strengthen collaboration across editorial divides.
The project has already been joined by several dozen journalists who demonstrate knowledge, integrity, and commitment in their daily work. They monitor the actions of companies, respond to greenwashing, educate audiences, and fight climate myths. The Journalists for the Planet list is open – each new application is individually assessed by the Foundation based on clear criteria, such as the number of publications, quality of sources, and alignment with scientific knowledge. Although the participants in the project operate independently and are responsible for the content they create, the initiative has a shared goal: strengthening the voice of responsible journalism in the debate on the planet’s future.
Climate change is a topic that requires precise, responsible, and fact-based communication. With the needs and challenges that journalists face today in mind, we created a comprehensive training program covering lectures on climate change, effective climate storytelling, combating disinformation, and the impact of companies on the climate. The pilot phase of the project involved journalists from Polish Radio and Radio ZET.
As surveys conducted before and after the training showed, the program significantly increased the participants’ knowledge. After the training, we also supported the Polish Radio editorial team in launching Poland’s first regular climate news service.
For the training participants, we provided an educational path on the platform www.polskadlaklimatu.pl, along with educational materials, lecture recordings, and recommendations to assist in their daily editorial work.
