Coming Soon In Asia, climate disinformation is a tactic that deliberately reinforces existing power imbalances between dominant actors and Indigenous Peoples (IPs). Drawing from country studies on Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, this regional brief outlines how these disparities reinforce extractive development policies that consolidate state control over land and resources. This effectively sidelines IPs’ participation in climate governance, despite being forest-dwelling minority groups most vulnerable to climate change and deforestation. Within the recent context of media digitalisation, IPs are disproportionately impacted by the dissemination of climate disinformation narratives, including one-sided reporting, greenwashing, false climate solutions…

Download Full Report In the Philippines, climate disinformation is being used by state and corporate actors to legitimise attacks on Indigenous Peoples (IPs).  By labelling those in opposition, such as IPs, as “terrorists”, some of the most vulnerable in these communities are subjected to extractive and ecologically destructive mining, the building of energy and infrastructure projects in ancestral lands among others. As a result, climate disinformation creates an information environment in which state violence towards IPs, in the form of militarisation in IP land, forced evictions, harassment such as “red-tagging” and extra-judicial killings, is justified. Altogether, these threats disproportionately endanger…

Download Full Report In Indonesia, climate disinformation is being used by state and corporate actors to justify the prioritisation of “national development” interests over Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) vulnerabilities. This developmentalist approach relies on the deliberate undermining of Indigenous practices as “obsolete” in favour of state-led “modern” development narratives, in particular through National Strategic Projects. As a result, climate disinformation leads to IPs’ marginalisation from environmental decision-making, the undermining of their traditional knowledge systems, as well as forced displacements and criminalisation of IPs. Collectively, these factors endanger IPs’ rights, identities, livelihoods and resilience. This report advances key recommendations directed at government…

Download Full Report In Malaysia, climate disinformation aids the appropriation of Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) entitlements.  Although IPs are legally classified as “Bumiputera”, this category centres Malay-Muslim dominance by conflating the broad national category of Malay-Muslim as "Indigenous" with the international human rights concept of "Indigenous Peoples" reserved for non-dominant groups. This reinforces and intensifies the appropriation of IPs’s entitlements – who make up 11% of the population and largely reside in climate-vulnerable forested areas. Climate disinformation reinforces this identity hierarchy by falsely legitimising state control over IP territories and portraying extractive development as environmentally or socially beneficial. Amplified by the…

Download Full Report In India, both online and offline climate disinformation stands to dispossess the protected rights of Indigenous Peoples (IPs) who constitute 8.6% (104 million) of the population. False narratives in the media and social media legitimise the subversion of laws like the Forest Rights Act (FRA) intended to protect IPs, their lands and their livelihoods; and, instead, justify extractive projects in the name of national development. From one-sided positive presentation of environmental statistics and false climate solutions to strategic denialism and greenwashing, these narratives directly contribute to the criminalisation of IPs as “encroachers”, their forced eviction from ancestral…

Download Full Report In Thailand, the rapid digitalisation of media and widespread use of social media since the early 2000s have accelerated the spread of climate disinformation. This has reinforced the systemic negation of Indigenous Peoples’ (IPs) identity. Climate disinformation disproportionately affects IPs, who make up nearly 14% of the population and inhabit forested areas most vulnerable to climate change and deforestation. From one-sided reporting and greenwashing to false climate solutions and scapegoating IPs as drivers of deforestation, these narratives contribute to their exclusion from decision-making, criminalisation, forced evictions and intimidation and violence. It sets out targeted recommendations, urging the…

Download Full Report In Cambodia, the rise of digital media and social media platforms since the mid-2010s has intensified a surge in climate disinformation. It affects Indigenous Peoples (IPs), who make up about 3% of the population and live in forests highly vulnerable to climate change and deforestation. From false climate solutions to greenwashing and denial of deforestation, these narratives contribute to IPs’ exclusion from meaningful climate discussions, land dispossession and the criminalisation and silencing of environmental defenders. This report explores how both online and face-to-face climate disinformation – often state-aligned – restrains IPs’ voices, discredits Indigenous knowledge and legitimises…