139: Climate Misinformation & Disinformation with Pallavi Sethi

In this episode, Divya chats with Pallavi Sethi, a Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment at the London School of Economics, where she works on climate misinformation and disinformation. Pallavi brings a unique perspective to this work, shaped by her background in advertising and media studies, as well as her experience in the fact-checking department for a large social media company. It was through these experiences that she began thinking more deeply about climate narratives and its influence on public perception. At the beginning of their conversation, they discuss some fundamental questions, such as what is climate misinformation and disinformation, what fact-checking is and how it intersects with debates around free speech, and, lastly, who bears responsibility for the information we see and share.  A central thread in Pallavi’s work is her commitment to empowering the public — not just by calling for stronger platform governance, but by building media literacy and awareness so people can better recognize and challenge misleading climate narratives themselves. Pallavi has done extensive work in this area and brings sharp and thoughtful insights to an incredibly complex issue. But what is truly commendable about her work is that it does not stop at diagnosis; it also points to meaningful responses, such as the media literacy programs for kids in Finland and the efforts of a climate coalition called Climate Action Against Disinformation.  Pallavi discussed the role of Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD), a coalition of over 90 organizations working to make the information sphere safer regarding climate information. She explained that CAAD's collective efforts have been instrumental in putting climate disinformation on the global agenda, with information integrity appearing on the provisional agenda at COP30 for the first time. She highlighted that CAAD's strength lies in its ability to bring together diverse voices, making it harder for governments to ignore their demands.  Sources: Information on Pallavi's bio & background: https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/profile/pallavi-sethi/ Sethi, P (2024). Kemi Badenoch’s climate scepticism: a growing problem for the Conservative Party and its voters in LSE Blogs. Sethi, P., & Ward, B. (2024) Reform UK’s climate denial undermines democracy in LSE Blogs. Sethi, P (2024). Why countering climate misinformation must be a priority in Global Government Forum. Sethi, P. (2025). The myth of Meta’s free speech places democracy at risk in LSE Blogs. Sethi, P (2025). Strategic Obstruction: How Europe’s Far-Right Parties Are Blocking Urgent Climate Action.  https://hopenothate.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/state-of-hate-2025.pdf Sethi, P (2025). Inside Trump’s campaign to censor climate science. LSE Blogs