Message From the Editor Happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers! We hope you've had a joy filled week. This week at DeSmog, our investigative reporters Joey Grostern, Michaela Herrmann, and Phoebe Cooke revealed the scale of the Telegraph’s climate change ‘propaganda’. The new analysis reviewed over 2,000 Telegraph opinion pieces and editorials published online over a six month period. Of the 171 opinion pieces that dealt with environmental issues, 85 percent were identified as “anti-green” : attacking climate policy, questioning climate science and ridiculing environmental groups. This spate of anti-green stories from The Telegraph appeared in what is set to be the hottest year since records began in the late 1880s. And The Telegraph had an online audience of 13.5 million in September this year. In other news, our team of reporters is gearing up to attend COP28, the UN climate change conference, in Dubai this upcoming week. We've covered use of PR and big agriculture in the run up to the conference and our new piece dives into five key narratives to watch for at COP28. This year, we expect to see a big presence from big oil, an industry push for CCS, disinformation, and more. COP28 will be especially significant, as it will feature the first-ever “global stocktake,” of how much progress — or lack thereof — countries and other stakeholders have made toward meeting the goal established in 2015’s Paris Agreement of limiting warming to “well below” 2º degrees Celsius. Make sure you're following our Twitter, Instagram, and website for the most recent updates about COP28 and everything our reporters are working on. Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [email protected]. Want to know what our UK team is up to? Sign up for our UK newsletter. Thanks, P.S. Investigative journalism like this is made possible by readers like you. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work? Image credit: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) On Tuesday, November 28, generous donors across the world will come together to give back. We’re hoping that you’ll include DeSmog in your Giving Tuesday plans!At this very moment, a small but mighty team of DeSmog journalists is packing their bags to head to the United Arab Emirates for the annual UN climate negotiations, COP28. They’ll be reporting from COP28 on how polluting industries — from Big Oil to Big Ag — wield PR, greenwashing, and false solutions to delay essential climate action. Our COP28 coverage aims to expose disinformation tactics and the roots of influence and power, and we need your help to do this crucial work. This Giving Tuesday, please consider supporting our team on the ground with a donation of any amount. Save the date for November 28th! Five Key Narratives to Watch For at COP28— (5 min. read) —The annual United Nations climate negotiations are just a week away. Known as COP28 — since it’s the 28th year of the “conference of the parties” to the United Nations climate agreement — it will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai from November 30 through December 12. Revealed: Scale of The Telegraph’s Climate Change ‘Propaganda’— By Joey Grostern, Michaela Herrmann and Phoebe Cooke (9 min. read) —Telegraph columnists routinely questioned climate science and criticised green reforms as a major backlash against net zero policies raged in the UK, DeSmog can reveal. A new analysis by this website reviewed over 2,000 Telegraph opinion pieces and editorials published online over a six month period, ending in 16 October. Of the 171 opinion pieces that dealt with environmental issues, 85 percent were identified as “anti-green” : attacking climate policy, questioning climate science and ridiculing environmental groups. Report: Oil and Gas Production Set to Escalate Under Landmark U.S. Climate Law— Dana Drugmand (5 min. read) —A new report warns that oil and gas production in the United States is expected to rise under Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), even as the legislation helps to moderately lower fossil fuel demand through billions of dollars in clean energy investments. The report, “Biden’s Fossil Fuel Fail: How U.S. Oil and Gas Supply Rises under the Inflation Reduction Act, Exacerbating Environmental Injustice,” details how, despite the IRA’s significant spending on renewable energy, electric vehicles, and batteries, the policy will not be enough for the U.S. to meet its 2030 climate target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels. Venture Fund Set to ‘Take Control’ of Telegraph Has Fossil Fuel Investments— By Sam Bright (5 min. read) —The investment fund that has reportedly reached an agreement to buy the Telegraph Media Group has stakes in several oil and gas companies, DeSmog can report. U.S.-based RedBird Capital has entered into a joint venture to take control of The Telegraph alongside International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). From the Climate Disinformation Database: OgilvyOgilvy is a PR and advertising firm that was founded in 1948 by David Ogilvy. It now has 131 offices and works in 93 countries. Previously known as Ogilvy & Mather, it has had decades-long relationships with oil and chemical companies, including Shell, Chevron, the American Petroleum Institute, and the American Chemistry Council. Ogilvy and its lobbying shop, Ogilvy Government Relations, are subsidiaries of WPP, a UK-based holding company. It was purchased by WPP in 1989 for $864 million, the most expensive acquisition of an advertising company at that time. Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database. |