The report highlights that the electrical blackout that left mainland Portugal and peninsular Spain without power for over 10 hours was exploited by malicious actors spreading false claims.
The disinformation campaign included narratives about Russian cyberattacks, atmospheric anomalies, renewable energy failures, and governmental experiments.
More than half of those surveyed believed at least one of the false narratives regarding the blackout’s causes, with the “excessive dependency of the electrical grid on renewable energies” being the most common, particularly among far-right voters.
In this context, “beliefs about climate change and partisanship are major factors determining differences in attitude” towards climate misinformation.
“Individuals intending to vote for far-right parties and who reject climate change hold less favorable views on climate,” the document states.
The report also warns of the need to compel social networks to prevent the amplification of misleading content about climate change on their platforms, as well as government investments in public awareness campaigns to combat disinformation and promote information integrity.
In addition to these measures, the authors stressed the need to prevent companies from using advertising that disseminates misleading information or promotes environmentally harmful behaviors, such as excessive fossil fuel consumption.
“Providing more resources to fact-checking organizations to debunk false claims about climate change” should also be a priority.
The report by the CAAD coalition interviewed 2,400 people in Spain and the United Kingdom, aiming to combat climate misinformation and calling for decisive and unified action against the phenomenon.
Last week, the expert panel investigating the April 28 blackout concluded that the collapse was caused by a series of sudden renewable production shutdowns, followed by a loss of synchronism with the continental European grid.
A final report is expected in the first quarter of 2026, which will include concrete recommendations to avoid similar incidents not only in the Iberian Peninsula but across the entire European electrical grid.
