Climate crisis is real; the doubt is manufactured

January 20, 2026

Climate scientists have sounded the alarm for decades, yet some still choose to ignore, the danger. Former Deputy Director of the NSW Emergency Service and member of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, Chas Keys notes that there is even resistance to the “catastrophic” fire danger warning introduced after the devastating 2009 Black Saturday fires.

Those warnings were pushed by the emergency leaders who fought those fires. Many were shocked at the ferocity and behaviour of fires in recent years. They understood the risk, recognised the influence of a changing climate, and chose language carefully to cut through scepticism and apathy. The goal was simple: to save lives.

So why does climate scepticism persist? Increasingly, it is amplified through social media and fuelled by vested fossil fuel interests. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Risks Report lists misinformation and disinformation among the top five immediate global risks.

A recent viral example is the so-called World Climate Declaration, signed by more than 1100 “scientists and professionals”. The vast majority lack climate science expertise, while its backer CLINTEL has documented links to fossil fuel interests. The climate crisis is real; the doubt is manufactured.