Hundreds of leaked files show Exxon bankrolled think tanks to block UN climate treaties

🕒 Last updated on November 4, 2025

Hundreds of unpublished documents have revealed that Exxon, the Texas-based fossil fuel giant, secretly funded right-wing think tanks to spread climate change denial across Latin America. The files include internal memos, letters, and copies of checks showing that Exxon worked closely with the Atlas Network, a U.S.-based coalition of free-market think tanks, to make developing countries “less inclined” to support United Nations climate treaties.

The correspondence, obtained by the climate investigations site DeSmog, dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s — a key period when countries were forming the first global agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions. According to the records, Exxon wanted Atlas Network to help it expand “free-market” groups outside the U.S., especially in Asia, Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Latin America.

In 1998, Exxon sent a $50,000 check to Atlas Network — worth roughly $100,000 today — to grow international organizations able to influence government policies. The network later reported that its partners had used Exxon’s money to translate and distribute materials denying human-caused climate change, and to host events featuring well-known U.S. climate skeptics.

Reaching Latin America

The documents show that Atlas Network partners, including Fundación República para una Nueva Generación in Argentina and Instituto Liberal in Brazil, organized public events and seminars to question global climate treaties. In Argentina, meetings were held just before the COP4 climate talks in Buenos Aires. One event featured U.S. climate skeptic Patrick Michaels, who had referred to climate change as “hysteria.”

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Atlas Network reported that its partners also produced a Spanish translation of a booklet by Fred Singer titled “The Scientific Case Against the Global Climate Treaty.” The book claimed there was no significant evidence supporting global warming and denied that human activity was driving climate change. The organization also funded a Chinese translation of the same booklet and arranged meetings between India’s Liberty Institute and U.S. groups such as the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute, both known for opposing climate regulations.

In a 1998 update to its donor, Atlas wrote that “few of these accomplishments would have been possible without Exxon Corporation’s generous financial assistance.” However, the documents make clear that Exxon wanted to remain anonymous. A 2000 memo summarizing a meeting with Exxon executives stated that the company’s approach was “behind-the-scenes, intentionally not seeking public kudos.”

Impact and Responses

When asked about the newly released documents, Adam Weinberg, a spokesperson for Atlas Network, said that the materials were drafted by former employees over 25 years ago and that Exxon was never a major donor. He also confirmed that the company has not contributed funds to the organization for nearly two decades. Exxon did not respond to requests for comment.

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Experts say the campaign had long-lasting consequences. Carlos Milani, a professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, explained that the atmosphere has a “huge historical memory” when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, meaning the effects of these past actions still matter today. Kert Davies, from the Center for Climate Integrity, said Exxon believed that if developing nations doubted the reality of climate change, a global treaty would never be possible.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Exxon helped lead a network of U.S. organizations that questioned climate science and opposed U.S. participation in international climate agreements. These new documents show that the company’s efforts extended far beyond American borders. By financing the Atlas Network’s outreach, Exxon quietly supported campaigns that spread misinformation about climate change to journalists, politicians, and the public across Latin America and other regions.

Today, as countries prepare for new rounds of climate talks, scientists say the results of those decades of delay are visible everywhere. From coral reef die-offs to the growing threat to the Amazon rainforest, the effects of limited global action — and years of corporate-funded disinformation — are becoming impossible to ignore.