What Databases and Mapped Investigations Does DeSmog Offer?

Updated

DeSmog's site lists six topic-specific databases—Climate Disinformation, Agribusiness, Ad & PR, Koch Network, Air Pollution, and Lobbying—plus a set of mapped investigations that chart influence networks, including Big Food's routes to influence at COP30, Donald Trump's transatlantic anti-green network, Reform UK's anti-green network, advertising and PR industry contracts from 2020–2024, and Pierre Poilievre's inner circle of lobbyists and right-wing activists. These resources are aimed at readers who want to trace who funds, staffs, or campaigns on climate-related issues rather than read single news stories.

What the databases cover

The database menu appears alongside DeSmog's news sections (Energy, Science Denial, Ad & PR, Social Justice, Agriculture, Politics and Policy, False Solutions, Finance, Canada, Opinion & Analysis). Each database collects material on one theme:

Database What it organizes
Climate Disinformation Material on campaigns that obscure climate science and solutions
Agribusiness Actors and lobbying around intensive livestock and food systems
Ad & PR Public relations and advertising activity shaping climate coverage
Koch Network The donor and political network associated with Koch-linked funding
Air Pollution Sources and campaigns tied to air quality disputes
Lobbying Lobbying activity across the site's coverage areas

The site's own description frames this as clearing "the PR pollution that is clouding the science and solutions to climate change," so the databases are best read as indexes into DeSmog's reporting rather than neutral statistical datasets.

What the mapped investigations show

The maps are visual investigations of networks rather than geographic maps of emissions or pollution. Examples listed on the site:

  • Mapped: Big Food's Routes to Influence at COP30 — connections between food-industry actors and the COP30 climate summit.
  • Mapped: Donald Trump's Transatlantic Anti-Green Network — links between US and European actors opposing green policy.
  • Mapped: Reform UK's Anti-Green Network — the UK party's surrounding network of anti-green groups and figures.
  • Mapped: Advertising & PR Industry Contracts, 2020–2024 — which PR and advertising firms held contracts, and with whom.
  • Mapped: Poilievre's Inner Circle of Lobbyists and Right-wing Activists — the people around Canada's Conservative leader.

Supporting reporting on the site illustrates how these maps are built: a piece on Canada Action describes internal slide decks explaining a strategy to generate millions of views for industry talking points, and a story on a consulting firm notes it lobbied for a town hit by climate disaster and a fossil fuel group at the same time. Use the maps when you need to see relationships between organizations; use the databases when you need a starting point on one theme.

How to use them

  1. Open the site's navigation and select Databases to see the six topic collections, or scroll the Multimedia area for the Maps section.
  2. Pick the theme closest to your question—for example, Lobbying for disclosure questions or Ad & PR for greenwashing claims.
  3. Follow each map or database entry back to the underlying article, which names sources, dates, and documents; the maps summarize those findings.
  4. Check dates on individual items, since entries carry publication timestamps (for example, October 2026 stories on livestock pollution and pro-oil viral content).

A practical check: if you need a citable claim, rely on the linked article and its documents rather than the map graphic alone. The site offers Subscribe and Donate options, but the pages reviewed do not state whether any database content sits behind a paywall, so verify access before planning research around it.