Climate Disinformation in Cambodia: Undermining Indigenous Peoples’ Agency

Cambodia is feeling the growing effects of climate change, with deforestation adding to the pressure. These challenges are especially hard on Indigenous Peoples (IPs), who make up about 3 percent of the population and depend on their ancestral lands and forests for both their livelihoods and cultural identity. 

Since the mid-2010s, the rise of digital media has made it easier for climate disinformation to spread online. At the same time, misleading messages continue to circulate offline—through  word-of-mouth and printed materials—particularly in remote, forested areas. For IP communities, the digital divide deepens this vulnerability, leaving them exposed to manipulation and limiting their ability to participate meaningfully in climate discourse, ultimately hindering their capacity to respond effectively in the face of a rapidly escalating climate crisis.   

While there’s been plenty of research on climate change, deforestation, disinformation, and Indigenous communities as separate issues, very little has looked at how climate disinformation specifically affects IPs. 

The report, Climate Disinformation in Cambodia: Undermining Indigenous Peoples’ Agency, aims to close that gap. It shows how climate disinformation weakens Indigenous communities’ ability to speak up, share their experiences, and push for solutions to the environmental and climate challenges they face. 

To support this, the report:  

— Identifies the main types of climate disinformation circulating in Cambodia. 

— Explores how this disinformation affects Indigenous communities. 

— Provides practical policy recommendations for national and international actors who play critical roles in addressing the rise of climate disinformation and its disproportionate impact on IPs. 

IMS co-authored the report with the Asia Centre.