Climate denial charity to offload campaigning arm following investigation

After a complaint supported by Good Law Project, the climate denial think-tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) will cut loose its campaigning arm. The group has also changed its procedures around publication in response to the Charity Commission’s investigation.

Back in October 2022, we supported a cross-party group of MPs to lodge a complaint with the commission, which is supposed to make sure charities operate for the benefit of all and not breach charity law. GWPF is set up as an educational charity, but our complaint presented evidence showing it had breached charity law many times, spending thousands of pounds on one-sided research downplaying the climate crisis, and investing in Net Zero Watch – a climate denial campaigning group.

GWPF’s “educational” outputs include claims that hot weather in 2022 was “not alarming” that coral reefs are “not declining” and bizarre statements from their directors and trustees claiming global warming is “likely to be beneficial” or denying that the planet is warming. Their Director Benny Peiser assured us in 2019 that he didn’t “see any problem in the foreseeable future”. 

After months of inaction, which the MPs argue caused an “unlawful distortion” of the debate around the climate emergency, the commission has now finished its investigation. 

The commission has accepted at face value declarations from the trustees that GWPF “does not accept donations from the energy industry or anyone with a significant interest in an energy company”. These declarations fly in the face of investigations showing that GWPF received money from a foundation holding shares in fossil fuel companies, as well as a Tory peer with investments in BP, Shell and TotalEnergies. 

However after we raised concerns about the links between GWPF and Net Zero Watch, the commission said a plan for the think-tank to “end its ownership” of the subsidiary is “an appropriate further step”. This change will cut off an important route to funnel charitable funding into climate disinformation. 

The commission also highlighted recent changes to GWPF communications, including a policy calling for comments on papers before they are published and changes to its website, which now includes some links to sources of information that “draw conclusions different to those presented by the charity”. 

But the regulator has imposed no sanctions. 

According to Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo  Maugham, the regulator’s hands-off approach raises important questions. 

“What’s startling is the Charity Commission’s unfathomable desire to spare the Global Warming Policy Foundation explicit criticism or impose regulatory sanction,” Maugham said. “Reading between the lines, it is clear that GWPF committed multiple breaches of charity law.” 

We’ll be keeping a close eye on GWPF to see if its changes in procedure make any difference to its outputs. And we’ll be watching to see if the Charity Commission’s soft-touch engagement is enough to uphold the law.