A recent investigative report has uncovered a large-scale online initiative originating from oil-rich Gulf states, where thousands of social media accounts are systematically spreading climate change denial. The campaign, orchestrated primarily from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, aims to discredit the widely accepted scientific consensus on global warming and downplay the environmental consequences of fossil fuel consumption.
Researchers from Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and Code for Africa identified a network of accounts on X—many of them based in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq—that worked together to amplify Arabic-language hashtags denying climate change. The operation relied on a combination of automated bots and semi-automated accounts to create the illusion of widespread support for these views.
Three specific hashtags emerged as central to the effort: خدعة_التغير_المناخي (climate change hoax), كذبة_المناخ (climate lie), and أجندة_2030 (2030 agenda). Analysis revealed that less than six percent of the posts were original content; the overwhelming majority were reposts, quotes, or replies. This tactic is designed to artificially boost visibility and make fringe opinions appear mainstream.
Activity on these hashtags intensified during key environmental events. Post volumes rose sharply between late May and mid-June 2024, coinciding with the Bonn Climate Change Conference and World Environment Day. Kuwait led the push, contributing almost 1,700 posts that generated over 5.2 million views, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Further investigation uncovered patterns typical of coordinated propaganda campaigns. Many accounts lacked location data and operated in unison. A single account, “@1Kuwty,” using the alias “STOP Age.2030,” served as a central hub, with 20 other accounts repeatedly reposting its content—some of which was identical, suggesting automation.
Notably, some individuals involved in spreading the disinformation have ties to government institutions in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This contradicts the official climate policies of both countries, which are signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement.
In Kuwait, former MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri shared content from the “STOP Age.2030” account, which also pushes conspiracy theories opposing the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Al-Sabban, a former senior advisor to the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources and the nation’s lead negotiator at UN climate summits, amplified the disinformation. He has publicly rejected the scientific consensus that human activity drives climate change.
“Climate change is a natural cycle that has nothing to do with human activity, contrary to what is being portrayed by the West for economic purposes,” Al-Sabban wrote in a 2023 post. “And there are still people who believe their claim, because some scientists cooked it up and made huge sums of money!!!”
These arguments echo a persistent and widely debunked climate myth: that global warming is not caused by human actions. The United Nations maintains that burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of the planet’s rising temperatures, creating a “blanket of pollution” that traps heat.