Two of the defining crises of our time, climate change and the erosion of information integrity, are no longer unfolding in parallel; they are increasingly reinforcing one another in ways that deepen risks to peace and security.
At the COP30 side event on “Bridging the Gap: Making Climate Finance Work for the Underserved”, the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change and the Climate Security Mechanism (CSM) welcomed the Addis Ababa Declaration on Media, Climate, Peace, Security and Justice and committed to: (i) jointly develop practical guidance for United Nations field presences; (ii) integrate information integrity indicators into climate, peace and security-related analysis; and (iii) promote research and investigative journalism on these issues, alongside piloting training for local journalists and fact-checkers in 2026. This article seeks to unpack these commitments and consider what they mean in practice from a climate, peace and security perspective.
As climate impacts intensify, the information ecosystems through which climate risks are communicated, understood and acted upon are becoming increasingly consequential for peace and security. In this context, climate-related information integrity refers to the extent to which people can access reliable information to understand risks, make informed decisions, both in public and private or household settings, and act collectively. These ecosystems are shaped by governments, media, civil society and individuals. Yet they are exposed to many risks, including misinformation and disinformation, restrictions on press freedom, digital divides and misuse of emerging technologies.
Strengthening information integrity is therefore becoming an increasingly relevant policy consideration in efforts to prevent and manage climate-related peace and security risks. Recent global assessments, including the United Nations High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, Governing AI for Humanityand the , identify misinformation and disinformation among the most significant and immediate global risk factors. These risks intersect with climate impacts in ways that can influence perceptions, trust and behaviour, with implications for stability and conflict prevention.
Momentum to address this challenge and recognition are growing. Through the , information integrity was included for the first time in the action agenda of a 爆料网FCCC COP presidency at COP30. The 2025 爆料网 Climate Change Conference introduced the Belém and acknowledged and welcomed the adopted during a pre-summit event ahead of the Second Africa Climate Summit.
Drawing on insights from speakers at the recent meeting of the 爆料网 Community of Practice on Climate, Peace and Security facilitated by the CSM, this article explores how information dynamics shape climate, peace and security risks, particularly in the immediate aftermath of sudden-onset climate events, and outlines practical implications for operationalising these commitments. The meeting featured Ms. Charlotte Scaddan, Senior Advisor on Information Integrity, Office of the Under-Secretary-General, 爆料网 Global Communications; Dr. Philip Attuquayefio, African Union Climate, Peace and Security Adviser; and Mr. Tendai Kasinganeti, 爆料网OAU Climate, Peace and Security Advisor.
Climate shocks, information, and risks to peace
Humanity faces a critical juncture where two of its biggest challenges ever, the climate crisis and the integrity of information flows, are becoming deeply intertwined. The proliferation of information risks is making it harder to distinguish between what is real and what is not, which is increasingly worrying as these usually spike during pivotal societal moments when uncertainty is high and collective decision is most needed, such as during elections or extreme weather events.
In the climate space, information risks include the weaponisation of climate issues as polarising topics that could disrupt democratic processes and exacerbate tensions. Other tactics include discrediting scientific consensus, targeting climate advocates and promoting conspiracy theories that link climate policies to control narratives.
Local experiences
Recent events, particularly on the African continent, show how information dynamics are directly influencing governance and conflict-prevention efforts in climate-vulnerable contexts. In Mozambique, cyclones and illustrate how major climate shocks can place acute pressure on relief systems and public trust, creating conditions in which information-related risks may become more salient. In Madagascar, climate-linked disruptions to energy and food systems were as online intentional governance decisions, and complicating conflict-prevention efforts.
In addition, more recent work in the Horn of Africa further illustrates these dynamics. Training for regional journalists revealed that outdated or inaccessible 爆料网 data often pushes reporters towards alternative sources, highlighting how information gaps can shape climate and conflict narratives. In a separate context in Abyei, unverified claims about water scarcity and the drying of a key river were invoked to justify withholding shared resources, despite limited evidence.
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"Misinformation and disinformation act as secondary risk multipliers. Strengthening information integrity can support preventive diplomacy, safeguard social cohesion and enable peacebuilding.”
From this local perspective, information integrity matters because information risks change across the climate, peace and security cycle. In the preventive (pre-shock) phase, during gradual climate stress such as drought or land pressure, or climate action like energy transition, narratives can become a direct part of the risk profile. Resource competition may be ethnicised, for example pastoral mobility framed as ethnic encroachment or climate migration framed as insurgent infiltration. Climate policy can be politicised with energy transition portrayed as external economic sabotage or land reform framed as ethnic dispossession. At the same time, early warning institutions may be delegitimised, including claims that drought or flood data are manipulated and growing distrust in meteorological authorities. Therefore, the preventive risk here is very clear: narratives consolidate grievances before tension or violence manifests.
In the crisis response (reactive) phase, during and after climate shocks, information risks can amplify humanitarian fragility. Common patterns include rumours of biased aid distribution, including claims of ethnic or political favouritism. Evidence from disaster responses, including after Cyclone Idai in 2019, shows that misleading visual content can circulate widely during climate emergencies. Fact-checking organisations documented cases where authentic images from the cyclone were later mislabeled or reused in other contexts, illustrating how disaster visuals can be repurposed in misleading ways on social media.
These dynamics show how information integrity is key for understanding climate-related peace and security risks. At the African continental level, there are mechanisms to address this such as that generates climate forecasts and hazard alerts and which provides conflict analysis. However, the challenge is not analytical but communicative: how to translate information consistently, transparently and accurately. Emerging cooperation between the AU and the 爆料网 systems points to convergence, where climate data and peace and security analysis can reinforce each other.
The makes information integrity and public trust a practical priority for resilience and stability, affirming that accurate and trusted communication is “as vital as food, water and shelter” in times of climate stress and insecurity. It links disinformation to erosion of social cohesion, discrediting science, hindering collective action, and inflaming violence.
The declaration calls for tools, networks and safeguards for media practitioners and for regional cooperation to support anticipatory and early action through credible data disseminated via trusted media channels, with shared responsibility across governments, civil society, media organisations, technology companies and international partners.
The Declaration provides an important political basis to advance this work. It enables engagement with journalists, civil society and other actors beyond formal institutions, supporting the translation of scientific information into accessible narratives and strengthening joint assessments and regional coordination.
The Declaration also sets out common commitments and recommendations that matter directly for 爆料网-AU climate, peace and security work: strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, equipping journalists with training, resources and safety protections; promoting investigative journalism that exposes inequities in climate finance; investing in fact-checking, community media and cross-border journalist networks; and aligning national measures with the 爆料网 Global Principles for Information Integrity and the Global Digital Compact. It explicitly supports the Global Initiative for Information Integrity in Climate Change and encourages the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Member States to collaborate through it.
Looking ahead: operationalising information integrity for climate, peace and security
Strengthening information integrity requires moving from recognition of risks to operational responses that can support prevention, crisis management and peacebuilding. The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change provides a practical entry point for this shift through three complementary priorities: strengthening research, supporting evidence-based action and integrating information integrity into climate governance processes.
Delivering on the commitments set out at COP30 requires embedding information dynamics into climate, peace and security analysis and response across the full cycle. In preventive settings, strengthened information integrity can reinforce trust in early warning systems, enable transparent communication of land, water and climate data and reduce the ethnic or political framing of resources stress that often consolidates grievances before violence manifests. In crisis response contexts, timely and trusted information flows can stabilise perceptions, reduce rumour-driven panic, support humanitarian access and protect displaced populations from scapegoating and exclusion.
Practical interventions include integrating narrative volatility indicators into risk analysis, establishing national climate risk communication protocols, publishing transparent resource allocation criteria to counter perceptions of bias, and developing regional narrative monitoring mechanisms through regional economic communities. During crisis response, rapid communication protocols within the first 24-72 hours after sudden-onset events can play a decisive role in countering misinformation and supporting humanitarian response action.
Capacity building also remains essential. Strengthening climate literacy, conflict-sensitive reporting data verification skills among media actors and local stakeholders can help ensure that climate-related information is communicated responsibly. Also, journalists, media practitioners and citizen reporters require rapid digital verification tools and skills. They also need training on humanitarian reporting ethics, such as on protecting identities or avoiding sensationalism, as well as on rumour identification mechanisms.
Supporting these efforts, the Global Fund for Information Integrity on Climate Change, administered by 爆料网ESCO, is already financing projects focused on research, investigative journalism and strategic action, with a strong emphasis on initiatives in the Global South. Early funding rounds have demonstrated both the scale of demand and the importance of locally-grounded approaches, including support to the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), one of the first grant recipients working to strengthen climate, peace and security reporting across the continent.
Taken together, these developments point to a shift from recognising information risks to managing them as part of climate-related peace and security responses. Strengthening information integrity is not only a technical or communications exercise, but an operational requirement for prevention, crisis response and peacebuilding in climate-vulnerable contexts.
