Post about climate change being a land grab is parody | Fact check - USA TODAY
Post about climate change, land grabs is satirical | Fact check
Post about climate change being a land grab is parody | Fact check
Isabella Fertel
The claim: WEF said climate change will hit 'attractive locations the state wishes to purchase'
An Aug. 21 Instagram post ( direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, that at first glance appears to be from the World Economic Forum.
“Climate Change will continue to strike attractive locations that the State wishes to purchase at a discount, warn Scientists,” reads the text in the post.
The post garnered more than 900 likes in two days. Other versions of the post continue to circulate on
“This literally kills my soul,” wrote one Instagram user. “They are always behind it.”
“Bull,” wrote another Instagram user. “Democrats lies lies and more lies, there trying to take our land, and control us, wake up America [sic].”
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Our rating: Satire
The social media account that originally created and shared the post is an account that parodies the World Economic Forum.
Post made by account labeled as ‘parody’
The social media posts appear to reference the wildfires in Maui and include an aerial photo of the blaze’s destruction shared by the County of Maui’s Facebook page on Aug. 10.
The original X post was shared by an account called the “World Ecommunist Forum” on Aug. 16.
“The international organization for public-private-parody cooperation,” reads the account’s description. “We’ll own everything and you’ll be unhappy! Pronouns: dystopia/dystopian.”
Fact check: No evidence Maui wildfires intentionally set in 'land grab,' contrary to posts
That account is not one of the official, verified social media accounts for the WEF, a Swiss-based international organization created to engage "the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.”
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
- County of Maui, August 10, Facebook post
- "World Ecommunist Forum," accessed Aug. 24, X bio
- World Economic Forum, accessed Aug. 22, Instagram account
- World Economic Forum, accessed Aug. 22, Facebook account
- World Economic Forum, accessed Aug. 22, X account
- World Economic Forum, accessed Aug. 22, Our Mission
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.