The ‘playbook’ lobbyists use to delay climate action
6/13/202616 min
When Professor Christian Downie appeared before a Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation, he warned that Australia is facing coordinated campaigns designed not to debate climate solutions, but to stall them.
Professor Downie has spent years inside boardrooms and the lobbying world studying how these campaigns are built – tracing the billions spent on messaging by lobby groups, PR firms and think tanks – and outlining what he calls “the climate obstruction playbook”. It’s a strategy refined in Washington and increasingly echoed in Australia.
Today, Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance, Christian Downie, on how the obstruction playbook has been so successful in stopping action on climate change.
This episode was originally published in October, 2025.
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Guest: Professor at ANU’s School of Regulation and Global Governance and Director of the Governing Energy Transition Lab, Christian Downie
Photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
When Professor Christian Downie appeared before a Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation, he warned that Australia is facing coordinated campaigns that aim not to debate solutions, but to stall them.
Christian Downie· Guest0:12
There is a network of organizations that exist to influence the public, influence the media, influence political arenas like our parliament to stop or reverse effective climate action. Uh, and in- Professor Downie has spent years tracing the billions spent on messaging and outlining what he calls the climate obstruction playbook. Short answer is, I think we're scratching the surface. There's much more to research, um, but there's an overwhelming body of empirical evidence now about these actors, about the financial flows.
Speaker 10:41
That inquiry has now reported back with 21 recommendations, including more scrutiny of greenwashing, more transparency around who funds campaigns, and more support for communities affected by renewable energy projects. But the government still hasn't formally responded. I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7AM. Today, we're bringing you our episode with Professor at ANU's School of Regulation and Global Governance, Christian Downie, on how the obstruction playbook has been so successful in stopping action on climate change. It's Sunday, June 14. This episode was first published in October 2025.
Daniel James· Host1:23
So Christian, you've spent a lot of time investigating the, the lobbyists and the tactics