CDU Lawmakers Deny Plans for Public Register of Climate Critics

The CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg has rejected claims that it supports establishing a public register for climate critics. The clarification follows a parliamentary inquiry submitted on October 27 by five CDU lawmakers, including former state Consumer Protection Minister Peter Hauk, asking the state government to assess the legal feasibility and utility of such a database.

The inquiry was triggered by recommendations published in early October by the Consumer Commission of Baden-Württemberg, an independent advisory body to the state government. The commission proposed creating a publicly accessible database maintained by an independent authority, which would attribute repeatedly spread false climate information to specific individuals and organisations alongside scientific counter-arguments.

Under the commission's recommendation, the definition of disinformation extends beyond denying climate change to include assertions that climate protection measures are ineffective or harmful. The advisory panel, led by financial scientist Andreas Oehler and economist Matthias Horn, also called for obligating social networks to remove automated accounts and classifying the spread of climate disinformation by artificial intelligence chatbots as a prohibited practice.

CDU parliamentary group spokesman Steffen Tanneberger told the Schwäbische Zeitung that asking for the state government's assessment did not signify political support for creating the register. The parliamentary group emphasized that political debate regarding the costs, benefits, and effectiveness of climate policy must remain open, and that criticism of concrete political decisions should not be classified as disinformation.

The Consumer Commission adopted the recommendation with only one dissenting vote. No formal decision to introduce the register has been made, as the state government is first required to issue its official position on the advisory panel's recommendations.

Written by Thorben Thiede thorben.thiede@alpineweekly.com