Climate disinformation is being used across Asia to justify the dispossession of Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral lands, weaken their role in decision-making, and protect powerful interests from scrutiny, according to a regional study released by Asia Centre.
The report examined experiences in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. It found that misleading climate narratives increasingly accompany development projects, conservation initiatives, and resource extraction activities on Indigenous lands.
“The use of climate disinformation is a deliberate strategy undertaken by corporations and governments in Asia that reinforces their existing power imbalances vis-à-vis Indigenous Peoples (IPs),” the report said.
“These imbalances legitimise the economic and political imposition of business activities, laws, policies and so-called climate actions that often disregard Indigenous rights and interests,” it added.
Asia is home to more than 260 million Indigenous Peoples representing more than 2,000 cultures and languages. The report noted that many Indigenous communities are among the populations most vulnerable to climate change because of their close dependence on forests, rivers, coastal areas, and other natural ecosystems.
Across the seven countries, researchers identified recurring patterns including one-sided media coverage, greenwashing, questionable climate solutions, and efforts to evade responsibility for environmental harm.
“Climate disinformation results in tokenistic consultations that create a facade of compliance with environmental and Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) standards, enabling the state’s monopolisation of resources and excluding IPs from the governance of their own ancestral territories,” the report said.
It also found that misleading climate narratives facilitate “the forced displacement of Indigenous communities from ancestral lands by presenting eviction, relocation and land appropriation as necessary, development-oriented and/or beneficial for conservation efforts.”
The study documented similar patterns across the region, where Indigenous communities and environmental defenders are often cast as obstacles to development.
“Climate disinformation portrays IPs and defenders as backwards, environmental threats, opposed to development, and, in some cases, extremists, thereby allowing states to legitimise the criminalisation of IPs and their advocates,” the report said.
Researchers argued that the issue should be understood not only as a matter of false or misleading information but also as a question of governance and rights.
“Therefore, this report positions climate disinformation not only as a communication problem, but as a broader regional governance and rights issue with significant implications for environmental justice, democratic participation and Indigenous self-determination across Asia,” it said.
The report also pointed to the growing role of digital platforms in amplifying anti-Indigenous narratives. It warned that advances in artificial intelligence could further accelerate the spread of climate disinformation across the region.
“Only by protecting Indigenous self-determination, securing land rights and embedding plural knowledge systems can the region move toward climate action that is genuinely inclusive, rights-based and ecologically sustainable,” the report said.
