Friend,

We spent the last 6 months analyzing the spread of ‘new’ climate denial narrative on YouTube with groundbreaking AI-powered tools.

And the results are worrying.

People who care about the climate crisis, climate activists, and politicians, should take note - climate denial narratives are shifting now, so we need to act.

The facts speak for themselves. So let me break it down:

• We collected 4,458 hours of content from climate denial YouTube channels posted between 2018 - 2023.

• We used an AI tool developed by academics that recognizes and categorizes climate denial content, and ran the YouTube content through it. And this is what is showed:

  • ‘Old’ outright climate denial like “Global warming and climate change is not real” - fell from 65% of the claims in 2018 to just 30% in 2023.

  • Meanwhile, ‘new’ climate denial narratives which attack climate science and scientists, and spread rhetoric trying to undermine confidence in solutions to combat climate change - such as ‘clean energy technology doesn’t work’ or ‘climate scientists can’t be trusted’ - have risen from 35% of the content in 2018 to 70% of the content in 2023.

• CCDH polling this January shows that these ‘new’ narratives are cutting through into the public consciousness.

  • 22% of adults, and 24% of 13-17 year olds agree with ‘old’ climate denial statements like ‘global warming and climate change is not real’.

  • But ‘new’ climate denial statements like ‘climate policies cause more harm than good’ have 33% of kids and 31% of adults agreeing with them.

What does this mean?

Climate deniers can no longer pretend climate change isn’t happening - so they’ve changed their strategy. Since 2018 there has been a marked departure from ‘old’ denial to ‘new’ denial arguments in an attempt to undermine climate science and delay action often for their own cynical gain. Our YouTube study is a microcosm of this phenomenon.

In 2021 CCDH exposed how Google and Facebook monetize climate denial content. Google promised to re-double its enforcement efforts. But what they define as climate denial content does not reflect the realities now.

YouTube is potentially making up to $13.4 million per year in ad revenue from channels studied in this report. Thirteen million dollars is a drop in the ocean for Google, one of the biggest and most profitable corporations in history. But as our polling shows, they hold the attention of America’s kids and garner the views of vast swathes of the US adults too. It's a powerful media platform in our digital age.

Climate advocates, politicians & policymakers must counter New Climate Denial, and social platforms must act now to stop New Denial narratives. Share our research and demand action:

2023 was the hottest year on record.

We owe it to our children, their children, and future generations to make this cause our own and fight for a better future.

Climate activists want to save our physical ecosystem from collapse. We can be part of that too by advocating for a healthier information ecosystem that values truth and science.

Thank you, Friend, for making this cause your own.

Imran Ahmed
CEO, Center for Countering Digital Hate