WHAT WAS CLAIMED
The Club of Rome admitted making up climate change in a 1991 report.
OUR VERDICT
False. Evidence of climate change existed prior to 1991 and quotes from the organisation's report have been cherry-picked.
AAP FACTCHECK - Climate change wasn't invented by a think tank in the 1990s, despite false rumours swirling online.
A video shared on social media claims the Club of Rome made up the concept of climate change when it published its 1991 report The First Global Revolution.
However, the clip misrepresents quotes from the report and experts confirm scientific evidence regarding climate change was already well established before 1991.
The Club of Rome is "a platform of diverse thought leaders who identify holistic solutions to complex global issues".
The false claim appears in a Facebook post from June 14, 2025, that includes a clip from a documentary titled The Agenda: Their Vision - Your Future.
"Climate change provided the answer, as admitted in a later Club of Rome document," the video voiceover begins.
"This is the quote from page 115: 'In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill … All these dangers are caused by human intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behaviour that they can be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.'"
A researcher named Sandi Adams then says: "It really does look as though they are inventing climate change there."
Another interviewee, Patrick M Wood, states: "They just made it up outta thin air … this has nothing to do with science whatsoever. They just made it up."
The First Global Revolution was written by the Club of Rome's co-founder Alexander King and former secretary general Bertrand Schneider, outlining their concerns and possible solutions to world problems, according to the organisation's synopsis.
However, the video selectively omits a key paragraph when quoting from page 115 of the report.
After listing pollution, global warming, water shortages and famine as "new enemies", the authors write: "In their totality and in their interactions these phenomena do constitute a threat which demands the solidarity of all peoples.
"But in designating them as the enemy, we fall into the trap about which we have already warned, namely mistaking symptoms for causes.
"All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behaviour that they can be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself."
A spokeswoman for the Club of Rome told AAP FactCheck the video misrepresents the report's content and fails to convey its intended meaning.
"Far from suggesting that environmental threats like pollution and climate change are fabricated, the authors are emphasising that these very real dangers stem from human activity," she explained.
"The passage underscores the need to address not just the symptoms, but the root causes, namely our collective behaviours, values and systems."
Paul Edwards, an expert in climate knowledge systems at Stanford University and an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) author, agreed the report's message has been distorted.
"The line about 'the real enemy is humanity' is accurately quoted, but it is willfully misinterpreted," he told AAP FactCheck.
It's clear the report's authors meant humanity is its own worst enemy, he added.
Professor Edwards said the claim climate change was invented in 1991 is inaccurate.
"Knowledge of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change goes back at least to 1896, with Svante Arrhenius's pioneering study of the effects of increased (and decreased) carbon dioxide on global temperature."
He also pointed to the The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and its Influence on Temperature, published by English engineer Guy Callendar in 1938. The study documented earth's warming by 0.3-0.4C from 1880 to 1935 and its connection to rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
In 2021 the IPCC published its Sixth Assessment Report, which reviewed climate projections dating back to 1971 and found they generally accurately predicted subsequent observations (pp184-187).
Prof Edwards said the science of anthropogenic climate change was well established by the mid-1960s, well before the Club of Rome report or the 1988 founding of the IPCC to summarise the state of that science.
"Given its deep scientific and political history, it's incredible to me that anyone could believe climate change was 'made up' in 1991 by the Club of Rome, or in 1988 by the IPCC," he said.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
