Policy for a post-truth climate
One of the most significant societal disruptions facing Canadians right now is the growing inability to distinguish between what is true and what is not.
In British Columbia, climate-related disinformation is undermining public trust and weakening support for urgent climate action. As social media platforms retreat from fact-checking and public skepticism toward government messaging grows, the challenge of communicating effectively has become more urgent and complex. This policy memo explores four potential responses, ranging from advertising restrictions to citizen assemblies, and evaluates each against goals of economic efficiency, equity, and political feasibility.
The memo raises the question of: What action, if any, should the Ministry of Finance take to increase public trust in climate-related government communications in the face of widespread disinformation in BC?
As part of one of the assessments in my masters program, we were asked to choose just one policy recommendation to address our chosen policy problem. Check it out, let me know if you have any questions, or have thoughts on any alternative policy pathways that could address this problem.
Click here to read the policy memo