The new form of climate denial with Dr James Painter from Oxford University

Welcome to a UTRI Transformation Talk featuring our invited guest, Dr. James Painter from Oxford University. The talk will address the new form of climate denial. A light lunch will be served ona first come, first served basis from 11.30. The talk will also be live-streamed.

The new form of climate denial: what is it, what’s the role of social and mainstream media, and can it be combatted?

In the past, organized climate skeptics concentrated on denying climate science: it’s not happening, it’s not us, or the impacts are exaggerated. This form of denialism has not gone away, but there’s been a new emphasis on questioning the policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: particularly the cost of taking action, the apparent unjust distribution of the costs, and 'whatboutism' - the argument that large emitters like China or India should take action first.

This talk looks at the evidence for this change on social media (Youtube, TikTok, Twitter), and legacy media around the world. A case study from the UK shows just how far right-leaning media are propagating inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information about a range of climate policies, and particularly Net Zero. But what can be done about it, and are their strategies to combat this new form of denialism?

The talk is also available online: Zoom-link (meeting ID: 616 1144 1680). No registration needed. 

About the speaker

Dr James Painter is a research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University, and a senior teaching associate at the Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography, also at Oxford.

He has published widely on climate change in the media in several countries. His current research interests include biodiversity in the media, portrayals of extreme weather events, animal agriculture and climate change in the media, climate scepticism, and more widely on the challenges of climate journalism and the emergence of climate niche sites.

Dr Painter has been a consultant to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) on communication issues, and has done similar work for IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), Oxfam, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), and other NGOs. Read more about James Painter