How to bridge the climate divide . . . ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Message From the Editor

Silhouettes of people walking through doors under the letters ARC

After Mark Carney won Canada’s Liberal Party race to replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister over the weekend, one of his first public comments was, “I know that these are dark days, dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust.”

Of course, he’s referring to his tariff- and fossil fuel-loving neighbor to the south, led by President Donald Trump. As Trump continues to expand his trade wars and his grievance-based approach to governing, we’re seeing a new world order, one that profoundly threatens to damage our planet.

This was on full display at CPAC 2025 last week, as Zach Roberts reported on the climate denial-soaked speeches by Trump, Musk, JD Vance, Steve Bannon, Liz Truss, Doug Burgum, Chris Wright and more.

The international spread of denial was also evident at Jordan Peterson’s Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference held last month in London. DeSmog teamed up with Canada’s National Observer to attend the event. Marc Fawcett-Aktinson provides a fly-on-the-wall look at the “global far-right Woodstock,” where political and thought leaders mingled with the business elite and conservatives.

Fawcett-Atkinson writes that climate denier extraordinaire Jordan Peterson, who launched ARC in 2023 and organized its two conferences to date, has gotten too big to ignore, and his message is a danger to us all.

“It’s time to stop our obsession with carbon altogether,” Peterson said as he repeated the climate denial trope that more carbon in the atmosphere will cause beneficial plant growth and not climate disaster. “No more carbon apocalypse mongering and terrorizing,” adding an element of victimhood to his claims.

Other speakers picked up on this theme, including elite conservative politicians from Canada, the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., including U.S. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and the UK’s Kemi Badenoch.

Is it really “terrorizing” to face the fact that we need to do something, and do it now, to combat a warming planet at a time of escalating climate disasters? The participants at the ARC conference, including representatives from fossil fuel, tech, and arms-dealing corporations, think it is. They are laying bare a new world order and crafting a battle plan to destroy essential climate action in service to their ideology. Read the full story. And stay tuned for more coverage of ARC from Geoff Dembicki.

DeSmog will keep holding these deniers to account. Sharon Kelly’s story about watchdog group InfluenceMap’s new report shows how 36 companies drove half the world’s climate-altering emissions in 2023. The climate strategies of major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and Total have touted their commitment to sustainability and renewable energy. But, as InfluenceMap’s data shows, behind the scenes, Big Oil is spending billions on lobbying efforts designed to delay climate action and water down environmental policies. Read more here.

The future of our planet doesn’t belong in the hands of a few oil executives or right-wing billionaires — it belongs to all of us. But we need to keep challenging Big Oil's influence and this shift to a new world order to help rescue a livable future.

That’s no small task, but we have the tools and capacity to build bridges and heal the divide on climate. As Dr. Renee Lertzman writes in an opinion column for DeSmog, the first step is to listen and acknowledge that people of all political stripes are feeling confused, overwhelmed, angry, and scared. Let’s get to work.

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,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

P.S. Readers like you power our journalism dedicated to climate accountability. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work? Thanks so much for your support.

Credit: Zach D. Roberts

I Spent 3 Days at Jordan Peterson’s Anti-Climate ARC Conference. Here’s What I Saw.

— By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson (7 min. read) —

The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship is the global far-right Woodstock, with political and thought leaders mingling with the business elite, conservative nobodies — and me.

Trump at CPAC 2025: Attack Climate Policy and Double Down on Denial

— By Zach D. Roberts (6 min. read) —

Conservative conference featured global right-wing speakers from Liz Truss to JD Vance calling for an end to climate protections.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaking via video link, while a male moderator sits in front of the screen in white chairs

Just 36 Companies Drove Half the World’s Climate-Altering Emissions in 2023: New Report

— By Sharon Kelly (5 min. read) —

Companies and states most responsible for climate change are also those working hardest to prevent climate action, new Carbon Majors report finds.

Carrboro, N.C., Mayor Barbara Foushee speaks at a Dec. 4 press conference announcing the Town Council’s lawsuit against Duke Energy for its alleged role in covering up the dangers of climate change.

The US Has Never Been More Divided on Climate. Here’s How to Build Bridges (and It May Surprise You)

— By Dr Renée Lertzman (8 min. read) —

The first step is to listen and acknowledge that people of all political stripes are feeling confused, overwhelmed, angry, and scared.

Photo of an oil spill at a CNRL facility reported in August 2020.

Stop Greenwashing Skiing: Norway Must Drop Equinor Sponsorship and Lead on Climate

— By Tzephorah Berman (4 min) —

The 2025 World Ski Championships in Trondheim are an opportunity for the country to choose a cleaner path.

The words 'climate denier spotlight' in wide appear against a transitional gray background with three smokestacks and two intersecting yellow spotlights highlight a bag of gold.

Kemi Badenoch is the leader of the UK’s Conservative Party and has been a Conservative MP since 2017. Badenoch has repeatedly suggested that the UK’s net zero targets would “bankrupt the country,” has boasted of standing up to “the green lobby” while in government, and has called Labour’s ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences “foolish.” Speaking at the 2024 Conservative Party conference, Badenoch described herself as a “net zero sceptic” but “not a climate change sceptic.” She added that net zero is “making energy more expensive and hurting our economy.” In 2022, Badenoch described the net zero by 2050 target as “arbitrary” and added that there was “a better way of going about these things”. Badenoch did not provide any further details on what her vision of a “better way” would be.

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.