Climate Change and Mis/Disinformation: Clearing the Air

Date: October 1, 2024
Location: Desmarais Building, 12th floor, 55 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa
Format: In-person
Time: 2:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

**Two individuals wearing hazmat suits pull open a curtain that separates a dark, bleak, indoor scene from a bright, serene natural landscape. The image conveys a stark contrast between a polluted space and a healthy, thriving ecosystem."

Event Overview

Disinformation and misinformation spread false information that confuses, manipulates, or misleads, undermining public discourse, eroding trust in institutions and evidence, and fueling political polarization that hinders democratic action.

Join us on October 1, 2024, for an insightful discussion with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a renowned Canadian climate scientist, on the challenges and narratives surrounding climate change, the impact of misinformation and disinformation on climate action, and the vital role of science communicators in promoting evidence-based discourse.

Dr. Hayhoe’s address, Climate Change and Mis/Disinformation: Clearing the Air will be followed by an interactive Q&A session with participants, moderated to ensure an engaging exchange of ideas. Subsequently, Catherine McKenna founder of Climate and Nature Solutions, will moderate a panel of researchers and will lead a discussion that explores in greater depth how misinformation and disinformation disrupt public discourse and hinder effective climate action, drawing on relevant case studies.

The conference will conclude with the launch of the Info Integrity Lab’s work plan “The Path to a Global Summit on Climate Change Mis/Disinformation and Beyond" presented by Info Integrity Lab Director Jennifer Irish, and closing remarks, including by Trottier Foundation.

Reception to follow conference

Objectives

Participants will deepen their understanding and appreciation of:

How misinformation distorts public discourse and can impede action,
The challenges faced by experienced science communicators in the digital era,
The ways to counter and mitigate its impacts of information distortion related to climate change
The ways to increase public literacy about climate change science;
The perspectives on priorities for developing collective approaches to counter mis- and disinformation related to climate change.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Katharine Hayhoe

Katharine Hayhoe is a Canadian atmospheric scientist. She is a Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor and an Endowed Chair in Public Policy and Public Law at the Texas Tech University Department of Political Science. In 2021, Hayhoe joined the Nature Conservancy as Chief Scientist.

Location

Schedule

2:30 p.m.	Opening and welcome by Serge Blais, Executive Director, Professional Development Institute (PDI), University of Ottawa
2:35 p.m.	Climate Change and Mis/Disinformation: Clearing the Air (followed by Q&A) Keynote address by Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Texas Tech University
3:30 p.m.	Panel : Climate Change and Mis/Disinformation : Challenges to Climate Discourse and Action (followed by Q&A) Moderated by the Honorable Catherine McKenna, Founder and Principal of Climate and Nature Solutions Senior Fellow Helen Hayes, McGill Centre for Media, Technology, and Democracy - Climate Delayism Narratives Dr. Daniel Stockemer, uOttawa - Understanding Climate Change Conspiracy Beliefs: Canada in comparative perspective Dr. Patrick McCurdy, uOttawa - Net Zero Narratives: Corporate Claims vs Climate Reality Dr. Chris Russill, Carleton Re.Climate - Flame Wars: Reflections on Misinformation and Wildfire in Canada’s Climate Conversation
4:45 p.m.	Panel Synthesis & Remarks by Catherine McKenna, Founder and Principal of Climate and Nature Solutions
5:15 p.m.	Remarks by Jennifer Irish, Director, uOttawa Information Integrity Lab – The Path to the Climate and Mis/Disinformation Summit and Beyond
5:30 p.m.	Closing Remarks by Éric St-Pierre, Trottier Foundation Executive Director Networking Mocktail Reception

* Schedule may be subject to change.

Panel Discussion

Speaker	Case study
Senior Fellow Helen Hayes	Climate Obstruction: Evaluating the State and Spread of Climate Delay Narratives in Canada Senior Fellow Helen Hayes's talk shares findings from the Centre for Media, Technology, and Democracy’s forthcoming report evaluating trends in Canadian public understanding and response to climate delay narratives. It explores how climate delay narratives spread on social media platforms and impact the evaluation of climate solutions in Canada and discusses potential impacts that such narratives have on climate policy development.
Dr. Patrick McCurdy	Net Zero Narratives: Corporate Claims vs Climate Reality Dr. McCurdy's talk provides a broad overview of "net zero greenwashing" in carbon-intensive industries, using Canada's oil sands sector and Pathways Alliance as a case study. He pays particular attention to how corporate climate pledges can become vehicles for misinformation, obstructing meaningful action through persistent patterns of selective disclosure and inadequate reporting. Findings are discussed in the context of evolving accountability measures, including recent legislative changes such as Bill C-59.
Dr. Chris Russill	Flame Wars: Reflections on Misinformation and Wildfire in Canada’s Climate Conversation In this talk, Dr. Russill will discuss the online circulation of false and misleading information during the 2023 wildfire season in Canada. He will discuss two explanations (arson and climate authoritarianism) that were amplified online to reframe popular associations of wildfire and climate change in the context of Canadian climate politics more generally. He considers the implications of these findings in the context of efforts to identify and ameliorate the effects of misleading information during crises and more generally.
Dr. Daniel Stockemer	Understanding Climate Change Conspiracy Beliefs: Canada in comparative perspective Building on recent works on conspiracy theory beliefs and climate change, this talk by Dr. Stockemer explores the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs (CBs) that identify climate change as a hoax in Canada through a comparative lens. Using original survey data, he finds that beliefs in climate change conspiracy theories are relatively widespread, with more than 20 percent of the population believing in such theories. More importantly, he indicates that political ideology, populist attitudes, age, and distrust of scientists primarily explain climate change conspiracy beliefs.

Moderator

Catherine McKenna

Catherine McKenna is the founder and principal of Climate and Nature Solutions. She is Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s new High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities (companies, investors, cities and regions) and is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Columbia University's Climate School and launched “Women Leading on Climate” at COP26. Catherine was Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government where she was asked by France to facilitate the negotiations of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (the market text) at COP 21. She led negotiations of Canada's first national climate plan which included a price on pollution across the country. In this role she helped establish a number of global initiatives including the Powering Past Coal Coalition, the Ministerial on Climate Action and the Nature Champions Summit.

Speakers

Senior Fellow Helen Hayes

Helen A. Hayes is a Ph.D. Candidate at McGill University and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Media, Technology, and Democracy. Her dissertation research explores the regulation and governance of Artificial Intelligence and Climate in Canada. Prior to pursuing her doctoral degree, she completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in Communication Studies at McGill.

Dr. Patrick McCurdy

Patrick McCurdy (PhD) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Ottawa. His research uses communication and social theory to study media as a site and source of social struggle. Since 2014 he has focussed on the polarized debate over the Athabasca oil sands. In April 2024, together with Chris Russill, he received an Insight Grant from SSHRC for a 4-year research project titled "Greenwashing and the Energy Transition: A Framework for Assessing Net Zero Communication in the Canadian Oil Sands Sector.” He is a also coauthor of the first academic study on net-zero greenwashing in Canada with Melissa Aronczyk and Chris Russill.

Dr. Chris Russill

Chris Russill is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication and an Academic Director at Re.Climate, a centre for climate communication and public engagement, both housed at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He is a coauthor of the first academic study on net-zero greenwashing in Canada with Melissa Aronczyk and Patrick McCurdy and co-edited Critical Approaches to Climate Change and Civic Action with Anabela Carvalho and Julie Doyle.

Dr. Daniel Stockemer

Daniel Stockemer is Konrad Adenauer Research Chair in Empirical Democracy Studies and Full Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. His main research interests are political participation, political representation, populism, as well as quantitative and qualitative research methods. Since becoming a professor in 2010, Dr. Stockemer has published 3 single authored books, 3 edited volumes, 1 textbook and more than 140 articles in peer reviewed journals. Daniel has several editorial commitments. He is editor of the International Political Science Review, the flagship journal of the International Political Science Association and editor of the Springer Book Series in Electoral Politics.

Opening Remarks

Jennifer Irish, Director, Information Integrity Lab

Ms. Irish was appointed as the Director of the Information Integrity Lab of the University of Ottawa in September 2023. The mission of the Lab is to advance understanding, research and analysis and mitigation measures related to of disinformation and misinformation. She serves concurrently an Associate at University of Ottawa’s Telfer Centre for Executive Leadership, as Program Director of its Executive Security and Intelligence Leadership Certificate. She brings to these positions more than three decades of senior level government experience in foreign affairs, humanitarian and refugee issues, and national and international security -- including in intelligence trends and threat assessment.

About the Lab

The Information Integrity Lab of the University of Ottawa was created in 2022 to advance the detection, understanding and mitigation of misinformation and disinformation, serving as a hub for innovation, knowledge and collaboration.

The Lab incorporates a cross-disciplinary and collaborative approach to its activities and applied research, integrating uOttawa’s expertise with an advanced and applied exploration of misinformation and disinformation and their drivers and impacts. In addition to applied research and events to exchange ideas, the Lab advances methodologies, techniques and tools to counter information distortion including with respect to visual and multi-modal disinformation that it pursues in collaboration with the Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM).

Pursuant to its “ideas exchange” mandate, the objective of this particular event is to share learning and perspectives on mis- and disinformation related to climate change and reinforce the basis for collaboration and creative partnerships. The event marks the launch of the climate change mis/disinformation work program supported by the Trottier Foundation.

October 1, 2024	2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.	Register Now!
Students: Free; General Public: $25	55 Laurier Ave E, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5	Register Now!