[Common climate lies, smears and misinformation]

The climate crisis: key points

A 10-point action plan

Civil disobedience?

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Calculators

Carbon footprint calculator
Carbon budget calculator by country

Recent Posts/Updates

The climate situation, at the start of 2025 UK carbon budget calculations 2025 Carbon budget calculations for the average country Why count consumption rather than territorial CO2 emissions Zero Hour: Climate urgency denial UKHACC: Climate urgency denial: Correspondence

Posts in 2023-2024:

Reasons to be very concerned

Key points on the climate emergency

Human activity has changed the climate

The climate has changed: The physics Mankind has changed the climate

Mortality from climate change

Mortality and other costs of climate change

Time is running out

UK carbon budget calculations 2024 The UK's share of the global carbon budget runs out in 2 years The global carbon budget runs out in 7 years

System failures

UN Secretary-General: "Government leaders are lying" The UK Net Zero 2050 strategy would take three times the UK's share of the global carbon budget

Pleas from those most affected

Young people are pleading for action: 10 key messages Greta Thunberg's "blah blah blah" speech, Milan 2021 Pleas from the world's poorest

Action needed

UN Secretary-General: "A grassroots movement that cannot be ignored"

Actions needed

Climate emergency ten-point action plan

1. Overall aim and priority

International commitments given Why 1.5°C? Why climate action is an overriding priority

2. Global strategy: Limit further emissions to 400 billion tonnes CO2

Global strategy: Limit further emissions to 400 billion tonnes CO2

3. Allocation of the global CO2 budget between countries

Allocation of the global CO2 budget between countries
The maths of staying within the UK's carbon budget: Halve emissions every 3 years Double digit percentage annual emission cuts "Zero carbon sooner" CO2 budget report from CUSP

4. Reviewing progress against the CO2 budget

Global emissions are still rising

5. Identifying reasons for lack of progress on climate change

Why progress has been so poor: Summary What should have happened? The UK's Seven Principles of Public Life Decision making has not followed the science All sections of society are failing It is a system failure rather than a failure of individuals Cognitive biases, flawed reasoning, fallacies and denial dominate opinions and decision making Climate denial: literal, interpretive and implicatory Climate urgency denial Checklist for auditing consistency with the IPCC Auditing consistency with the IPCC: Summary for selected groups

5a. Governments

UK Climate Change Committee: Not consistent with the IPCC UK Government fallacy: overclaiming the reduction in UK CO2 emissions

5b. Media deficiencies

The BBC: Climate denial The Guardian: Climate denial The British Medical Journal: Climate denial

5c. Campaigning deficiencies

Ineffective campaigning Friends of the Earth: Climate denial 1: Court case 2022 Friends of the Earth: Climate denial 2: Response to CCC annual report 2023 Fridays for Future: Consistent with the IPCC Climate Uncensored: Consistent with the IPCC Campaign against Climate Change: Consistent with the IPCC Ethical Consumer Magazine: Climate denial Climate Emergency UK: Climate denial Client Earth: Climate denial Sustrans: Climate denial

6. Improving decision making

Reliable (safe system) decision making and policy making

7. Actions by sector

Specific actions needed: Summary National governments Local government

False solutions to be avoided

'Offsetting' Planting trees Tree planting claims by Zurich scientists were withdrawn Electric vehicles: not an immediate solution

8. Individuals

Individuals Reduce your carbon footprint: at least 10% per year

9. Ensuring good decision making

Challenging fallacies

Common climate fallacies

UK Government

The 'Net Zero 2050' UK Government fallacies

Ethical Consumer: Inconsistency with the IPCC in the Climate Gap reports

Critique of report methodology Correspondence with Ethical Consumer

Civil disobedience

Civil disobedience in a democracy: Q and A

Technicalities

UK average GHG emissions International comparisons

Emissions by sector

Home energy "Green electricity" Cars Food Health, education, etc emissions Bus travel Train travel Aviation
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Quotes

Links

About

About us

Posts in 2022:

Consistency with the IPCC

Climate urgency fallacies

Action needed

Passivhaus home standards

Challenge fallacies and malpractice

Challenge fallacies, incompetence and malpractice

Ensuring good decision making

Assessing performance on the climate emergency Climate Urgency Realism or Denial score Climate urgency denial in UK Government scientists

About

Why trust this website?

Posts in 2020-2021:

Action needed

'Hydrogen power' is not the answer

Ensuring good decision making

Civil disobedience and the law Extinction Rebellion

Technicalities by sector

Basic UK energy and greenhouse gas statistics References

Posts in 2019:

The climate crisis and what to do about it

Climate change: the basics Simple solutions for the climate crisis, which should have been implemented already

Action needed

Local government: Make walking safe Organisations

Awareness raising

Leaflets, video

Reasons for optimism

Decline in UK domestic aviation Decline of domestic aviation in Sweden

Standards of administration in a democracy

Effective planning

Performance assessments

BEIS is not telling the truth on carbon emissions Transport for the North: Failing on the climate crisis Steve Rotheram: failing on the climate crisis Wirral Council's emission reduction trajectory

[Common climate lies, smears and misinformation]

Comparison of three sets of scandals showing Government gross misconduct and other misconduct, and the contributions from other sections of society

Lies, deceit, smears, misinformation	Response
Promotion of fossil fuel use: Road building Reduction of fuel duty Airport expansion Increasing trade
False claims that: CO2 reductions of 3% per year comply with the Paris Agreement (15-20% per year is needed)
Politicians are already taking care of the problem with the Net Zero 2050 plan	The UK's fair share of the IPCC-calculated carbon budget runs out in Dec 2024. Scientists are agreed that we need urgent radical action now.
The UK is leading the world in tackling climate change and has already halved emissions	The UK is leading the world in climate deceit - the reduction including imports/exports and aviation is only 11% since 1990.
Climate change will be solved by technological advances, such as zero emission electric vehicles, hydrogen energy, and carbon capture - and by planting trees	Electric vehicles are generally powered

	Lies	The truth	Child pedestrian protection
Government errors	Promotion of fossil fuel use: Road building Reduction of fuel duty Airport expansion Increasing trade	Removal of local testing Abandoning containment Actions too little and too late	Minimal infrastructure funding Removal of funding for roads policing enforcement Wrong default urban speed limit
Government deceit	False claims that: Good reduction on CO2 emissions CO2 reductions of 3% per year comply with the Paris Agreement (15-20% per year is needed) electric vehicles etc are zero emission	False claims: a large outbreak was inevitable a successful response testing delays aren't increasing cases elimination is impossible	False claims: Good progress in reducing deaths and injuries Deaths and injuries are either the child's fault or the driver's fault Pavement parking is legal outside London
Other Government abuse of power		Awarding of contracts without proper process
Government engagement with criticism	Missing	Missing	Missing
National or local government responsible?	National + local	National	National + local
Media reporting	Generally repeating Government misinformation	Generally repeating Government misinformation	Generally repeating Government misinformation
Evidence-based consensus from scientists and other specialists?	Fragmented and repeating Government misinformation	Fragmented and repeating Government misinformation
Contribution by campaigning groups	Missing consensus Misinformation from vested interest ~	Missing consensus Misinformation from vested interest	Missing consensus Misinformation from vested interest
Contribution by citizens	Repeating misinformation Little effort to reduce carbon footprint	Repeating misinformation	Repeating misinformation General disregard for road safety laws by drivers, e.g. on speed limits, giving way to pedestrians, parking
Injustices caused	Hundreds of millions of avoidable deaths Mass migration Risk of economic and social collapse Ecological disaster	Tens of thousands of avoidable deaths Long term disabilities Delays in non-covid vital treatments Job losses Economic damage	Deaths and serious injuries Obesity and life-long health problems Deaths and ill-health from poor air quality from reliance on motorised trnasport
Compliance with social contract?	In breach of the social contract	In breach of the social contract	In breach of the social contract
Decent people should	Work towards an evidence-based consensus Counter misinformation Avoid undermining and work with other truth & justice campaigns Support civil disobedience e.g. youth school stikers	Work towards an evidence-based consensus Counter misinformation Avoid undermining and work with other truth & justice campaigns	Work towards an evidence-based consensus Counter misinformation Avoid undermining and work with other truth & justice campaigns Support civil disobedience e.g. "Stop de Kindermoord"
Further information

First published: 16 Jan 2020
Last updated: 15 Sep 2021