Climate denialism, far-right influencers who support it are multiplying

The climate denial is driven by the far right. This was highlighted by a study published in the scientific journal natureswho analyzed the online traffic on Twitter and the ideological distribution of users at the Cops, the international climate conferences. By studying the data between COP 21, 2015, and COP 26, 2021, the group of scientists noticed a exponential growth of influencers top-level far-rightwith a consequent diffusion of their theories that support climate denialism even in the “bubbles” furthest from the theme.

Between Cop21 and Cop26, the number of far-right influencers talking about climate change on Twitter is increased fourfold. Based on the research findings, all of these accounts feature theories called climate contrarian, i.e. positions ideologically contrary to those of science. The spectrum of these ideas is diverse and ranges from climate denial simpler than those who argue that global warming does not exist, up to theories that climate change Not it would have negative effects or it would not be the fault of the pollution produced by human activities.

In addition to denial, these influencers actively move to attack and challenge those pushing for more climate action, from scientists to environmental movements. Their work of delegitimization points to both discredit the results of scientific research, and to question the solutions proposed by movements, the scientific community or governments, to limit the dramatic effects of climate change.

“Our results show that ideological polarization was low and broadly flat between COP20 and COP25, before a significant increase during COP26, driven by growing right-wing activity. Opposition to climate action is a known feature of populist politicslargely due to the association of climate change with issues of institutional trust and populist attitudes towards science. This trend was probably catalysed by the anti-science sentiments that emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic” reads in the study Growing polarization around climate change on social media.

In fact, intertwined with climate denialism, the same accounts analyzed in the research disseminate other arguments that characterize the rhetoric of the online far right, such as conspiracy theories on the origin of the coronavirusor other fantasies that follow the rhetoric of the US conspiracy movement QAnon.