The Integrity Gap: Restoring Trust in the Climate and Energy Debate | Recommendations by the Parliament of Australia

The Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and
Energy was appointed by resolution of the Senate on 30 July 2025, to inquire into
and report on:

• The prevalence of, motivations behind and impacts of misinformation and disinformation related to climate change and energy;
• How misinformation and disinformation related to climate change and energy is financed, produced and disseminated, including, but not limited to, understanding its impact on:
  • Australian politics,
  • domestic and international media narratives, and
  • Australian public policy debate and outcomes;
• The origins, growth and prevalence of ‘astroturfing’ and its impact on
  public policy and debate;
• Connections between Australian organisations and international think tank
  and influence networks associated with the dissemination of
  misinformation and disinformation related to matters of public policy;
• The role of social media, including the coordinated use of bots and trolls,
  messaging apps and generative artificial intelligence in facilitating the
  spread of misinformation and disinformation;
• The efficacy of different parliamentary and regulatory approaches in
  combating misinformation and disinformation, what evidence exists and
  where further research is required, including through gathering global
  evidence;
• The role that could be played by media literacy education, including in the
  school curriculum, in combating misinformation and disinformation; and
• Any other related matters.

The final list of recommendations include:

Recommendation 1

9.23 The committee recommends the Australian Government support and adopt the United Nations Global Principles on Information Integrity and work to coordinate the application of these principles across government.

Recommendation 2

9.26 The committee recommends the Australian Government officially endorse the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change launched at COP30 in Belem, Brazil.

Recommendation 3

9.33 The committee recommends the Australian Government ensure the adequacy of resourcing for regulators such as Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to combat and expose corporate greenwashing.

Recommendation 4

9.34 The committee recommends the Australian Government explore ways to ensure greater transparency of campaign activities, such as the creation of third parties, that are resourced by commercial/corporate interests in the lead up to a federal election.

Recommendation 5

9.40 The committee recommends the Australian Government continue to provide funding support for regional and independent media outlets.

Recommendation 6

9.41 The committee recommends the Australian Government increase funding for social sciences research relating to threats to climate and energy information integrity including potential solutions.

Recommendation 7

9.42 The committee recommends the Australian Government explore funding models for independent monitoring support (for example, via the Australian Internet Observatory) to track hidden digital influence ecosystems and provide independent transparency and accountability of platforms.

Recommendation 8

9.45 The committee recommends the Australian Government, through the regular Education Ministers’ Meeting curriculum review cycle, broaden the Australian Curriculum ‘digital literacy’ general capability to strengthen media literacy.

Recommendation 9

9.46 The committee recommends the upcoming National Media Literacy Strategy incorporate the information integrity framework with examples from the climate and energy domain.

Recommendation 10

9.47 The committee recommends the Australian Government, coordinated through the Education Ministers’ Meeting, establish stronger oversight and disclosure requirements for corporate engagement within school systems, with clear policies regulating philanthropic or corporate relationships that may interfere with educational integrity.

Recommendation 11

9.55 The committee recommends the Australian Government consider legislative or regulatory reform which identifies psychosocial harms, places the onus of responsibility in addressing these harms onto digital platforms and monitors effectiveness of their mitigations through regulatory and civic oversight.

Recommendation 12

9.56 The committee recommends the Australian Government improve the quality of data reported to the Australian Communications and Media Authority from the digital platforms to include for example, thematic breakdown of their reporting inclusive of climate and energy data, denominator data, removal actions and paid advertising related to climate and energy.

Recommendation 13

9.57 The committee recommends that the Australian Government consider how researchers could be provided adequate legal protection to undertake their work in the digital platform space.

Recommendation 14

9.58 The committee recommends the Australian Government consider how to improve the complaints resolution process, including about false and misleading information online.

Recommendation 15

9.64 The committee recommends the Australian Government ensure the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner is adequately funded for community engagement.

Recommendation 16

9.65 The committee recommends the Australian Government require the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner to provide a summary of threats to climate and energy information integrity in their annual report.

Recommendation 17

9.66 The committee recommends that the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation consider social licence on renewable energy projects. This could include:

• Hiring new staff with expertise in social science, behavioural science, and community engagement, and;

• Ensuring their decision making and advisory bodies have social licence expertise represented.

Recommendation 18

9.67 The committee recommends that the Australian Government task the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to provide advice on the costs and benefits of renewable energy creation, storage and transmission alongside clean manufacturing to create data needed to address local social licence concerns.

Recommendation 19

9.68 The committee recommends the National Health and Medical Research Council fund new research on the effects of wind energy on human health.

Recommendation 20

9.69 The committee recommends the Australian Government continue to strengthen communication and social licence capability across government agencies and departments. Improved information flow between jurisdictions and across departments will help address knowledge fragmentations across multiple sectors of the economy (e.g. transport, electricity, agriculture, emergency services).

Recommendation 21

9.70 The committee recommends the Australian Government resource community led engagement driven by organisations with proven track records in local communities. These models may include capacity building for local leaders in rural and regional areas, support for local governments that are contingent on their engagement with community organisations or groups with a proven track record.

Read the full report here.