| Title |
The experience anchor: climate misinformation and barriers to sustainable climate action in Lithuania |
| Authors |
Mačiulienė, Monika ; Skaržauskienė, Aelita ; Butkevičienė, Eglė |
| DOI |
10.14207/ejsd.2026.v15n3p171 |
| Full Text |
|
| Is Part of |
European journal of sustainable development.. Rome : European Center Sustainable Development. 2026, vol. 15, iss. 3, p. 171-183.. ISSN 2239-5938. eISSN 2239-6101 |
| Keywords [eng] |
climate misinformation ; science communication ; disinformation ; sustainable development ; qualitative research ; expert perceptions |
| Abstract [eng] |
Climate misinformation undermines public understanding and the political feasibility of climate action, posing a barrier to the Sustainable Development Goals. While research has mapped misinformation content and surveyed public attitudes, far less attention has been paid to how the experts who work against climate misinformation perceive the environment in which they operate. This exploratory study addresses that gap through eight semi-structured interviews with Lithuanian experts spanning academia, meteorology, science communication, professional fact-checking, municipal data infrastructure, and civil society advocacy, analysed using a hybrid inductive-deductive thematic analysis. Five cross-cutting themes emerged: the “experience anchor” that ties public belief to hyper local sensation rather than to aggregated data; a structural speed asymmetry within the attention economy; the strategic exploitation of legitimate scientific uncertainty in place of outright denial; the segmentation of vulnerability along socio-economic and identity lines; and a tension between scientific authority and advocacy. The findings suggest that deficit-model communication is structurally disadvantaged and that equitable, locally grounded interventions are required. Given the single-country sample, the results are advanced as hypotheses for cross-national investigation. |
| Published |
Rome : European Center Sustainable Development |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2026 |
| CC license |
|
