iscover
Whether it be fuel insecurity, cost of living or the potential of conflict, there are a range of threats that Australia continues to face in 2026. However, fossil fuel dependence and climate disinformation may just be the most potent of them all, according to the former chief of the Australian Defence Force, Admiral (Ret’d) Chris Barrie.
Backing the freshly announced Australian Security Leaders Climate Group (ASLCG) report, The climate disinformation war: How to fight back for Australia’s democracy and security, Barrie said the climate crisis, exacerbated by these two concerns, is growing at “unprecedented” rates and is developing into a greater national security threat as the days go by.
“There has been a failure to understand how energy dependence on fossil fuels will cause both economic disruption and more perilous physical conditions for Australians”, Barrie said.
“Now the two issues are colliding.”
With the federal government’s Senate select committee on information integrity on climate change and energy set to release their report this week, the ASLCG said this is a reflection of the changing social interest of the impact of climate misinformation on the environment and everyday people.
ASLCG report findings
The report found that the growth of “anti-climate action propaganda and disinformation networks” posed major threats to Australia’s national security, economic fragility, defence readiness and trust in institutions.
“Climate systems, energy transitions and digital information platforms now sit at the centre of geopolitical contests,” said Anastasia Kapetas, author of the report.
“In this context, coordinated anti-climate-action and anti-energy-transition propaganda campaigns operate not merely as domestic political interventions but as instruments within broader geopolitical struggles.
“When external or transnational actors are able to influence domestic energy choices, regulatory frameworks or public consent for major infrastructure projects through coordinated information operations, this constrains Australia’s strategic autonomy in determining its own economic and energy future.”
“This is no longer just a communications issue. It is a national security threat with consequences for Australia’s sovereignty, economic resilience, disaster preparedness, institutional trust and strategic autonomy. We are already seeing a drift toward authoritarian politics linked to climate denial.”
In a submission to the Senate committee by Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA), they noted similar findings, citing political donation, skewed media coverage of environmental events, and evidence-denial in think tanks being major threats to legitimate action.
“It [misinformation] is often intentionally spread by powerful actors, undermining public trust in science, obstructing evidence-based policymaking, and delaying necessary action on climate change,” their submission read.
While this not only leads to worse outcomes for the climate, ASLCG and DEA strongly emphasise how these issues run deeper, as they reflect the influence that false media narratives, big business greed and public institutional trust can diminish in the wake of contentious global, social issues.
Barrie expressed a blunt truth in his view on the depth of this issue, saying, “If these threats are not checked, accelerating climate change will crash society as we know it. This is not speculation – it reflects the warnings of the world’s leading climate scientists.”
Report recommendations
The ASLCG is pushing the federal government to take stronger, enforceable measures to quell the security threats posed by climate change disinformation, with a specific focus on the digital space.
Kapetas’ report urges the government to “rebuild accountability” for the flow of information surrounding climate change, focusing on investments in public research and independent journalists.
She said that systematic approaches are critical, as the embedded, built-in nature of the current disinformation presence in climate change discussions are the root of the security concerns being raised.
As most things come back to these days, AI is also a critical point that plays a large role in the climate misinformation as a threat debate.
“The rapid expansion of generative AI tools now allows the creation and distribution of vast quantities of synthetic content – text, images, video and audio – that can flood information ecosystems at unprecedented speed and scale, dramatically lowering the cost of coordinated propaganda campaigns,” the report read.
The ASLCG is calling on the federal government to take more “specific, strong, enforceable regulation” of generative AI, and references the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act as a framework for these guidelines.
However, the easiest starting point for the government should come through becoming a signatory to the UN Conference of Parties Declaration of Information Integrity on Climate, the research suggests.
Final thoughts
Climate change is undeniably one of the most pressing issues facing humanity in the 21st century, and with social media, personality cults, and mis/disinformation running rampant in social spheres – both online and in person – it is no question that this has the potential to threaten Australia’s national security and divide society.
Coupled with the ticking time bomb of irreversible, life-altering climate change damage to our earth, it is not a far-fetched claim to suggest that this issue going unaddressed has the potential to “crash society as we know it”.
Fact checking is one of the most necessary and valuable tools to (hopefully) restore social and geopolitical cohesion; let's hope the climate conversation can circle back to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
