Claims that the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a “conspiracy,” according to former civil servant Christian Gérondeau, are gaining traction. The scientific consensus? “Artificial,” says mathematician Benoît Rittaud. And physicist François Gervais insists there’s no climate emergency. These skeptical viewpoints, which have found a platform in recent years on Dailymotion, Le Figaro Vox and even on advertising screens in French train stations, all originate from members of the Association des climato-réalistes (ACR). The group is now emerging as a central force in climate change denial in France.
The association was founded in 2015. As the international community gathered in France to negotiate the Paris Agreement, a collective formed with the goal of supporting “initiatives that will take an alternative view to the dominant discourse” and combating “the irrational fear that is distilled to us daily.” This debate comes as media literacy and the spread of misinformation become increasingly important topics in the public sphere.
To distance themselves from the climate skepticism embodied by the geochemist and former minister Claude Allègre (who passed away in 2025), who had largely lost credibility, the collective proclaims itself “climato-realist.” According to Albin de Wagener, a professor in sciences of language, information, and communication at the Catholic University of Lille, this term allows members to attempt “to appropriate scientific objectivity and, by mirror effect, to deny this approach to the IPCC and the thousands of scientists who work on climate change.” The “climato-realists” even refer to their opponents as “climate alarmists”—“a way of polarizing,” according to the researcher.
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