Due to the amount of misinformation out there, climate policy is being dragged into a culture war. Studies have shown that the amount of people that outright deny the effects of climate change are significantly low, however people that oppose the reality of climate change are now turning to delay, distraction and misinformation tactics. These are used to confuse and put doubt into people’s minds, which causes a slow down in the action we need to occur.
Policies for change from governments and plans at summits, such as COP26, have led to a wide amount of social media posts that spread negative information and create further denial. These social media posts depict sustainable plans as being too expensive, unfeasible, and disruptive.
Not everyone that protests against climate policy believes climate change doesn’t exist. In some cases, they are against the elitism of certain wealthy individuals who call for action, as they believe they are hypocritical and that they have a double standard of living one way and preaching that you should live another.
Many also claim that if one country isn’t doing their bit to fight climate change then why should theirs. Each country should be doing their bit to fight climate change, but some are going to be doing more than others. There are many people that believe that this is unfair, and that each country should be fighting climate change equally or not at all. Or that if other countries aren’t taking climate change seriously then maybe it isn’t as big of deal as others say it is.
To most, renewable energy appears to be the best option to stop the use of fossil fuels and to lower our greenhouse gas emissions globally. However, there are people that believe that there is not enough evidence to suggest that they will be a viable solution or that they will produce enough energy. Therefore, they are against the climate policies set out by governments that suggest we should move on to renewable resources.
We all deserve the right to freedom of speech; however, we all need to make sure we understand what we are posting about and what we are reading on social media. With all the misinformation out there, we need to make sure we research climate change in order to make a decision about where we stand regarding it. This is also the case when making a judgement on climate policies. We should all be working together to fight climate change instead of using platforms such as social media to post negative and misinformed information.
