New Countries Join UNESCO’s Information Integrity Initiative at COP30

The interventions at the High-level Event underscored why information integrity secured a central role in climate negotiations at COP30, for the first time in 30 years. It marks a turning point in recognizing that climate action cannot advance without protecting the information ecosystems that sustain it. Speakers agreed that climate disinformation—fueled by well-funded and campaigns, online harassment and manipulated content—now threatens every part of global climate cooperation. 

Senior representatives from the UN, UNESCO, and Brazil took part in the discussion, alongside high-level representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and Chile. Such sation in an agenda-intensive event as COP30, demonstrates that information integrity is not a peripheral issue but a core pillar to sustain effective climate action. Countries highlighted how climate disinformation undermines public trust, threatens democratic institutions, targets youth and experts, and can delay or distort policy decisions—emphasizing the urgent need for coordinated global action. 

“The need for action is immediate and undeniable,” stressed Assistant Secretary General for Climate Change Selwin Hart, noting that climate disinformation has already resulted in the loss of lives and is escalating attacks and harassment directed at activists and scientists. 

reaffirmed that there is no truth without information integrity. “This is the COP of Truth. Therefore, this is a fundamental topic we must address collectively to protect the integrity of information,” she stated.  

Their message was echoed by researchers, government representatives and climate envoys: the climate crisis cannot be solved without first safeguarding the information ecosystems that support it.