May 20, 2025 — Why All Climate Misinformation Should Be Seen as Disinformation
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
CIGI offers expert research and policy analysis at the intersection of technology and international governance.
Why All Climate Misinformation Should Be Seen as Disinformation
“In the lead-up to Canada’s federal election, climate policy was one of the most hotly debated and deeply polarizing issues. Amid party platforms, campaign promises and heated debates, Canadians were also flooded with misleading narratives, questionable statistics and emotionally charged claims about everything from carbon pricing to oil and gas development.”
In this op-ed first published by Canada's National Observer , Andrew Heffernan says that “while much of this may appear to be innocent misinformation — shared by well-meaning individuals who believe what they’re posting — it’s time we acknowledge a harder truth: almost all misinformation, especially about climate change, is the downstream product of coordinated disinformation campaigns.”
Idées7 Canada Communiqué
CIGI recently released the communiqué for Think7 Canada 2025. We are pleased to announce that the French translation is now available.
In preparing the communiqué, the chairs and co-chairs of the T7’s four task forces distilled a wealth of expert analysis from policy briefs submitted to this engagement group in early 2025 following a global call for submissions, as well as from subsequent discussions at the T7 Summit hosted by CIGI in early April. Through the communiqué’s recommendations, the T7 aims to help inform conversations at the upcoming G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, for the ministerial work to follow during Canada’s G7 presidency, and beyond.
You can read the communiqués, as well as the submitted policy briefs, here, and watch recordings of the T7 Summit sessions compiled in the T7 2025 Playlist.
Read Idées7 Canada Communiqué.
RECOMMENDED
Earlier this month, CIGI attended the Global Solutions Initiative Global Solutions Initiative’s Global Solutions Summit 2025 in Berlin, an official side event of T20 South Africa 2025.
The two full days of programming included a panel moderated by CIGI President Paul Samson (T7 Convenor) on reimagining global collaboration, featuring speakers Elizabeth Sidiropoulos (T20 Co-Chair), Holy Ranaivozanany (Africa-Europe Foundation), Izabella Teixeira (She/Her) (T7 Co-Chair) and Patricia Fuller (T7 Chair). In addition, Duncan Cass-Beggs , executive director of CIGI’s Global AI Risks Initiative, hosted a closed-door session, “Global Solutions to Global AI Challenges: Draft Statement by Global Think Tanks on Next Generation AI,” further elaborating on ideas showcased in the panel he moderated at the Think7 Summit.
The event also included the launch of a new tool kit from Project Liberty , Digital Infrastructure Solutions to Empower Citizens: A Toolkit for Policymakers, to which Samson, Cass-Beggs and other global leaders contributed through consultations in Paris, France; Washington, DC; and at the T7 Summit in Waterloo.
The Right to Repair Is Vital to National Security and Sovereignty
With Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada, the country is rethinking its planned purchase of US-manufactured F-35 fighter jets, considering replacing them with aircraft manufactured in Europe. The key issue, Natasha Tusikov writes, is that the US manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, controls aircraft software updates, so that equipment must be shipped back to them or authorized repair depots. Even the US military does not have the right to repair its equipment because of restrictive warranty provisions.
In this opinion, Tusikov argues that “with the United States quickly descending into authoritarianism under President Donald Trump, it should now be evident to policy makers that the right to repair — the freedom of buyers to choose who fixes their goods — is critical to national security and sovereignty.”
We’re Hiring!
CIGI is seeking a Program Manager — Policy Research, who, as part of the Program Management team, will be involved in the management and coordination of CIGI’s research programs and the continual improvement of CIGI’s program management tools and processes. The deadline to apply is June 2.
Find out more about the position on our Careers page and please share with your networks.
Thanks for reading!