CGIAR Climate Security supports the global effort for information integrity about climate change

This year, CGIAR Climate Security has deepened the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT’s commitment to using its climate science for good by joining the Global Initiative for Information Integrity about Climate Change.

A collaboration between the Brazilian Government, the UN Secretariat and UNESCO, the initiative was launched in 2024 with the purpose of bringing together countries, international organizations, and stakeholders worldwide to promote and defend information integrity on climate change, address disinformation, and enhance climate change awareness and action.

The Climate Security team’s initial involvement is through a participation in the Brazil Chapter of the initiative. For this, Digital Methods specialist, Dr. Giulia Tucci, attended the inaugural Partner Network Workshop, hosted by Brazil’s Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency (SECOM/PR) and held in Brasília on 26 March.

The event, attended by more than 50 civil society, research and government organizations, centered around establishing the objectives of the Brazil Chapter and drafting a work plan for the various thematic areas. The Alliance’s contribution will focus on the area of work for research and monitoring of public digital debates. This aims to identify key sources and patterns of climate-related disinformation, to share methodologies for robust data collection, and to coordinate the uptake of findings by policy and media actors.

In addition to the Workshop, Giulia engaged with SECOM’s Digital Channels Department. She led a training session on TeleCatch, an open-access software for collecting and analyzing publicly available Telegram data developed by the Digital Methods team of CGIAR Climate Security. Participants learned how to curate public Telegram channels and groups for inputs to TeleCatch, and how to use the tool to collect, filter and visualize message and video content to flag potential disinformation hotspots. The development of escalation protocols, distinguishing between urgent cases requiring ministerial attention and those suitable for internal review, were also discussed.

Collaboration extended to high-level dialogues with SECOM’s Chief of Staff, Samara Castro, and Nina Santos of the Digital Policies Secretariat. Giulia supported mapping out institutional workflows for collecting, storing, and producing digital intelligence reports, ensuring that data governance protocols are in place to manage sensitive content and to streamline escalation channels within government. These governance frameworks are critical for turning raw monitoring outputs into actionable policy recommendations.

Bridging Climate Science and Digital Methods

These engagements were great opportunities to highlight the unique approach of the Digital Methods team at CGIAR Climate Security, which combines cutting-edge digital platforms analytics with climate science expertise. By demonstrating the applicability of innovative tools like TeleCatch in filling a gap in digital capabilities of policy actors, while also providing domain experts to strengthen evidence-based decision making, CGIAR is offering a framework that more nations can follow.

Regarding the Global Initiative for Information Integrity about Climate Change, Giulia highlights: “our research aims to combine robust methodological approaches to detect and understand climate-related disinformation across social media with insights from climate scientists, who can support and guide our work with up-to-date, context-specific scientific knowledge”. According to her, such an interdisciplinary collaboration enables not only the identification of false or misleading narratives circulating online, but also which narratives have the greatest potential to distort public understanding and policy debates. “By integrating digital methods with scientific evidence”, says Giulia, “we aim to support targeted responses that enhance information integrity and foster informed climate action.”

The Digital Methods team leader, Bia Carneiro, adds that “considering CGIAR’s mission to transform food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis, disinformation can affect our ability to make our science reach those who need it most, as it undermines scientific knowledge and obstructs effective responses. We will all benefit from understanding what disinformation narratives can impact public trust in our research and outcomes.”

Authors: Bia Carneiro, Giulia Tucci and Ibukun Taiwo, Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT