Background

Atlas Network is a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization that describes itself as working to support a growing network of more than 500 “free market” organizations in nearly 100 countries promoting free market ideas.

Many of the member think tanks of Atlas Network have supported climate science denial and have campaigned against legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (AERF) was founded by Antony Fisher in 1981 with the goal of spreading “innovative, market-based perspectives to issues of public policy” globally.

In 1955, Fisher had founded the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), after conferring with free-market economist F.A. Hayek. Fisher and Hayek were part of the Mont Pelerin Society‘s early efforts. IEA became an influential London-based think tank promoting neoliberal ideas of limited government and low regulation. ¹ It has been embroiled in controversy over its influence on Brexit, its secretive funding–including funding from U.S. dark money operations Donors Trust and Donors Capital–and the disclosure of substantial funding from oil giant BP.

Atlas Network is the trading name of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. Previous names have been the Atlas Foundation and the Atlas Research Foundation. The International Policy Network (IPN) in the UK, also founded by Fisher, is effectively a UK variant of Atlas Network.

According to UK Charity Commission filings (PDF), The Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK) was working as the International Policy Network, and is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, number 262982. In April 2001, with the consent of the Charity Commission, it adopted the working name of The International Policy Network, ‘IPN’, and in December 2004, ‘UK’ was added to the name. The UK Atlas Economic Research Foundation and the IPN UK are no longer listed among UK Charities. and the UK branch was most recently operating with a new name, “Network for a Free Society.” The U.S. Atlas Network appears to be a separate entity from the International Policy Network US Inc., although Atlas Network’s 2010 financial records reveal that they continued to provide support to IPN.²

The stated vision of Atlas Network is to “win the long-term policy battles that will shape history, we need freedom champions to create credible institutes – well-managed and independent of vested interests – that use sound business practices to advance sound public policy ideas.”

SourceWatch describes the Atlas Economic Research Foundation as “The Johnny Appleseed of antiregulation groups […] on a mission to populate the world with new ‘free market’ voices.” The mission of Atlas, according to John Blundell (president from 1987 to 1990), “is to litter the world with free-market think-tanks.”³

Atlas Network has played a role in the work of a varity of conservative think tanks including the Manhattan Institute in New York, the National Center for Policy Analysis in Texas, Instituto Libertad y Democracia in Peru, the Acton Institute in Michigan, Fundación Libertad in Argentina, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo in Chile, the Centre for Civil Society in India, Istituto Bruno Leoni in Italy, and the Association for Liberal Thinking in Turkey, among others.⁴

Atlas identifies, screens, and offers initial support to individuals and groups who want to create local think tanks. Atlas “strives to provide personal assistance to individuals who are starting a free-market institute” and offers online training programs “that will walk you through the early stages of starting a think-tank.”⁵

Stance on Climate Change

Atlas has cosponsored numerous Heartland Institute events dedicated to the proposition that climate change is not a crisis.

December 2024

In a December 2024 statement responding to questions related to a joint investigation by l’Observatoire des multinationales and DeSmog about ExxonMobil donations to Atlas Network from the 1990s and 2000s, Atlas Network CEO Brad Lips said:⁶

“Those donations from the late 1990s and early 2000s reflect the perspective of our leadership at the time that overzealous environmental regulation, premised on climate change, would be harmful for economic growth in general, and especially for the opportunity to increase living standards in the Global South. Certainly, many free-market think tanks continue to agree with this thinking. However, by the time I became CEO of Atlas Network fifteen years ago [2009], it was clear that there was little consensus on these topics among our partners. I determined this should not be an area of focus for Atlas Network, as we want to work constructively with all our partners on our key priorities with no concern for where they land on questions of climate science.”

November 2014

In a November 2014 commentary, Atlas CEO Brad Lips wrote:⁷

“The Kyoto Protocol – signed by President Clinton in 1998 (but never ratified by the U.S. Senate) – now appears to have been the high-water mark for the Global Warming movement (since coincidentally that was that last year of measured “warming”). Even those who believe global warming is a catastrophic, man-made problem now struggle to make a case that global energy austerity is a practical or cost-effective course of action.”

Funding

According to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation Website⁸

“Atlas Network is not endowed and it does not accept government funding. It does not support political candidates or parties, or otherwise involve itself in partisan politics.

We are grateful to those generous individuals, philanthropies, and businesses that entrust us with financial resources to build a greater public consensus around the ideas of a free society by advancing the Atlas Network mission.”

According to their financials page, “Atlas Network is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Atlas Network is not endowed and does not accept government funding. All of its programs depend upon the generosity of foundations, individuals, and corporations.”⁹

The following totals are based on data collected by the Conservative Transparency database combined with additional information from publicly available 990 tax forms. See the attached spreadsheet for additional information on Atlas Network funding by year (.xlsx).¹⁰

Atlas Network as Recipient

Donor	Total
John Templeton Foundation	$9,669,538
Earhart Foundation	$3,429,240
DonorsTrust	$3,003,040
Sarah Scaife Foundation	$2,365,000
Exxon Mobil	$1,082,500
George Edward Durell Foundation	$715,000
The Carthage Foundation	$710,000
Claws Foundation	$700,000
Chiaroscuro Foundation	$600,000
Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation	$595,369
Chase Foundation of Virginia	$588,820
Donors Capital Fund	$459,000
Schwab Charitable Fund	$419,250
William H. Donner Foundation	$415,000
The Roe Foundation	$362,500
Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking	$340,000
Lovett and Ruth Peters Foundation	$338,000
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	$325,000
Lowndes Foundation	$322,000
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation	$293,890
The Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation	$293,000
John William Pope Foundation	$255,000
Searle Freedom Trust	$235,000
Ravenel and Elizabeth Curry Foundation	$200,000
National Philanthropic Trust	$189,000
Smith Richardson Foundation	$183,000
Reams Foundation	$155,000
JM Foundation	$150,000
Charles and Ann Johnson Foundation	$135,000
Charles Koch Institute	$121,600
Center for Independent Thought	$94,125
Jaqueline Hume Foundation	$93,000
Diana Davis Spencer Foundation	$92,000
The Randolph Foundation	$73,700
The Vernon K. Krieble Foundation	$72,000
The TWS Foundation	$60,000
Americans for Tax Reform Foundation	$55,400
Robert P. Rotella Foundation	$55,000
Paul E. Singer Foundation	$50,000
International Policy Network	$49,191
Mercatus Center	$35,000
Aequus Institute	$35,000
Same Line Foundation	$33,700
Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation	$28,500
Thomas W Smith Foundation	$24,000
Cato Institute	$20,000
State Policy Network	$17,894
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation	$17,000
National Christian Charitable Foundation	$12,460
Bradley Impact Fund	$10,000
Philip M. McKenna Foundation	$10,000
The Rodney Fund	$8,000
Abstraction Fund	$7,000
Armstrong Foundation	$5,000
William E Simon Foundation	$5,000
The Opportunity Foundation	$2,000
Joyce and Donald Rumsfeld Foundation	$1,000
Friedman Foundation For Educational Choice	$1,000
Heritage Foundation	$450
Grand Total	$29,126,817

Atlas Network as Donor

Donor	Total Contributions
Students for Liberty	$460,405
George Mason University	$235,960
Prague Security Studies Institute Washington	$224,750
International Freedom Educational Foundation	$179,844
Taliesin Nexus	$163,009
Hispanic American Center for Economic Research	$132,198
Cato Institute	$121,545
Show-Me Institute	$120,100
Foundation for Government Accountability	$115,194
Bluegrass Institute	$105,000
Acton Institute	$100,000
Education Intelligence Agency	$95,000
George Mason University School of Law	$86,000
Goldwater Institute	$56,250
Free Africa Foundation	$53,000
The Prometheus Institute (Irvine CA)	$50,850
Foundation for Democracy in Russia	$50,000
Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy	$50,000
Illinois Policy Institute	$47,300
National Review Institute	$45,800
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education	$45,641
Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty	$30,000
Mercatus Center	$30,000
University of Richmond	$27,500
Free To Choose Network	$26,350
Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions	$25,800
John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy	$25,800
American Slovenian Education Foundation	$25,000
Libertas Institute	$25,000
PSSI Washington	$25,000
State Policy Network	$25,000
George Mason University Foundation	$25,000
The Bastiat Society	$24,000
The Americas Forum	$23,000
European Students for Liberty	$21,480
Foundation for Economic Education	$21,000
Intellectual Takeout	$20,500
Northwood University (Michigan)	$20,500
Mackinac Center for Public Policy	$20,300
Pelican Institute for Public Policy	$20,250
Association of Private Enterprise Education	$20,000
Archbridge Institute	$20,000
Evergreen Freedom Foundation	$20,000
Reason Foundation	$20,000
The Independent Institute	$19,425
Rockford College	$18,300
North Dakota Policy Council	$17,500
Public Policy Foundation of West Virginia	$16,056
The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College	$16,000
Idaho Freedom Foundation	$15,500
National Center for Policy Analysis	$15,000
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs	$15,000
Liberty Foundation	$15,000
American Principles Project	$15,000
American Traditional Institute	$15,000
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty	$14,525
Think Freely Media	$13,000
The Ryan Foundation	$12,000
Brown University	$10,500
American Center for Civic Character	$10,500
Deep Springs International	$10,500
Ocean State Policy Research Institute	$10,450
Samasource	$10,200
Competitive Governance Institute (Formerly Sam Adams Alliance)	$10,200
Center for Investigative Journalism in the Americas	$10,000
Mises Institute	$10,000
Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity	$10,000
Advance Arkansas Institute	$10,000
Bastiat Society	$10,000
Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise	$10,000
Institute to Reduce Spending	$10,000
Mercatus	$10,000
Peak Freedom Forum	$10,000
College of Charleston Foundation	$10,000
Alabama Policy Institute	$10,000
Moving Picture Institute	$10,000
Institute for Humane Studies	$10,000
Common Sense Institute of New Jersey	$10,000
Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives	$10,000
University of Detroit Mercy	$10,000
Beloit College	$10,000
Independent Institute	$10,000
International Policy Network US	$10,000
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research	$10,000
Rio Grande Foundation	$10,000
Human Rights Foundation	$10,000
Institute for Justice	$10,000
Texas Public Policy Foundation	$9,500
The Fund for American Studies	$9,000
James Madison Institute	$9,000
Platte Institute for Economic Research	$8,197
East Carolina University	$8,000
Interamerican Institute for Democracy	$8,000
American Friends of the Institute of Economic Affairs	$7,500
Pacific Legal Foundation	$7,000
Alaska Policy Forum	$6,580
Swaniti Initiative	$6,500
Washington Policy Center	$6,100
Rhodes College	$6,000
Saint Vincent College	$6,000
American Principles in Action	$5,800
Polish-American Foundation for Economic Research and Education	$5,600
Just Facts Inc.	$5,500
Liberty Fund	$5,164
Grand Total	$3,708,423

Year	Charles Koch Foundation	Charles Koch Institute	Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation	Grand Total
*1987	$2,500			$2,500
*1988	$5,000			$5,000
*1989	$20,000			$20,000
*1991	$5,000			$5,000
*1992	$2,500		$25,000	$27,500
1998			$3,500	$3,500
2001	$5,000			$5,000
2006	$3,800			$3,800
2007	$25,000			$25,000
2008	$35,000			$35,000
2009	$38,800			$38,800
2012	$28,522			$28,522
2013	$25,000			$25,000
2014	$64,912	$14,900		$79,812
2015	$82,426	$21,700		$104,126
Grand Total	$343,460	$36,600	$28,500	$408,560

990 Forms

Key People

View the attached spreadsheet for additional information and sources on Atlas Network’s key people year over year (.xlsx).

Actions

June 13, 2016

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD/PRWatch) reports that the Atlas Economic Research Foundation was named as a creditor in Peabody Energy’s bankruptcy filings.¹⁵

While the available bankruptcy documents do not list the scale or dates of funding, they outline Peabody Energy’s financial ties to a large network of groups promoting climate change denial.¹⁶

Prominent individuals appearing in the documents include climate deniers Willie Soon, Richard Lindzen, Roy Spencer and Richard Berman. The long list of organizations also includes groups such as Americans for Prosperity, American Legislative Exchange Council, CFACT, Institute for Energy Research, State Policy Network, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and dozens more.¹⁷

The Guardian also analysed and reported on the Peabody bankruptcy findings:¹⁸

“These groups collectively are the heart and soul of climate denial,” said Kert Davies, founder of the Climate Investigation Center, who has spent 20 years tracking funding for climate denial. “It’s the broadest list I have seen of one company funding so many nodes in the denial machine.”

The company’s filings reveal funding for a range of organisations which have fought Barack Obama’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and denied the very existence of climate change. […]

Among Peabody’s beneficiaries, the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change has insisted – wrongly – that carbon emissions are not a threat but “the elixir of life” while the American Legislative Exchange Council is trying to overturn Environmental Protection Agency rules cutting emissions from power plants. Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity campaigns against carbon pricing. The Oklahoma chapter was on the list. […]

“The breadth of the groups with financial ties to Peabody is extraordinary. Thinktanks, litigation groups, climate scientists, political organisations, dozens of organisations blocking action on climate all receiving funding from the coal industry,” said Nick Surgey, director of research for the Center for Media and Democracy.

“We expected to see some denial money, but it looks like Peabody is the treasury for a very substantial part of the climate denial movement.”

Notable organizations listed in the initial documents include:

Notable individuals named in the initial documents include the following:

August 2015

Atlas announced that Australian think tank the Institute of Public Affairs was a finalist in its flagship Templeton Freedom Awards for a campaign against the country’s laws that had put a price on greenhouse gas emissions.

IPA executive director John Roskam described the laws as “the greatest threat to the free market in Australia since bank nationalisation in 1947.” The laws, introduced despite a toxic anti-science campaign promoted by the IPA, were repealed in July 2014.

The IPA’s campaign included organising and funding speaking tours and promotions for climate science deniers, including former Czech Republic president Vaclav Klaus, mining industry figure and geologist Professor Ian Plimer and writer and anti-wind farm activist James Delingpole.

May 16–18, 2010

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4).¹⁹

The conference’s theme was “Reconsidering the Science and Economics,” and its purpose was “the same as it was for the first three events: to build momentum and public awareness of the global warming ‘realism’ movement.”

DeSmogBlog concluded 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) had received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil (who funded 13 of the organizations), and/or Koch Industries family foundations (funded 10 organizations) and/or the Scaife family foundations (funded 10 organizations).²⁰

June 2, 2009

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-Sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Third International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3) hosted in Washington, DC.²¹

The conference’s theme was “Climate Change: Scientific Debate and Economic Analysis,” to reflect Heartland’s belief that that “scientific debate is not over.”

April 2009

Greenpeace reports that Atlas gave over $100,000 (among other donations) to fund a “Danish study,” prepared by Danish think-tank CEPOS, that “provides clean energy opponents a means of raising questions about the viability of renewable energy and a means of directly criticizing President Obama for his statement that Denmark produces almost 20% of its electricity through wind power.”²²

“[T]he study contains factual errors, its conclusions have been misrepresented and to boot, its findings are not particularly relevant to the US,” Greenpeace concluded.²³

March 8–10, 2009

Atlas Economic Research Foundation was listed as a Co-Sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2).²⁴

DeSmog researched the funding behind Heartland’s Second International Conference on Climate Change and found that sponsor organizations had received over $47 million in funding from energy companies and right-wing foundations.²⁵

November 2003

Paul Driessen, a senior fellow at Atlas, published his book Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death.

February 5–8, 1998

The Atlas Economic Research Foundation hosted a conference in Orlando Florida on “Poverty and the Environment.”²⁶

According to the conference event description, “This Atlas Economic Research Foundation conference will bring together scholars and government officials from the Americas, to discuss the interrelationships between poverty, human health and environmental quality. For two days, speakers, panelists and commentators will examine deep-rooted problems … evaluate how nations have sought to solve them with central planning and governmental mandates … explore market-oriented alternatives to command-and-control approaches … and address the pros and cons of international treaties and protocols that often involve one-size-fits- all ‘solutions’ to narrowly defined environmental problems and concerns.”²⁷

The event included a tour of Disney World’s waste management facility, followed by speaker discussions on “global treaties and local solutions in the areas of packaging, solid wastes, wastewater treatment, air quality and related issues.” Speakers included the following:²⁸

Name	Affiliation	Country
Alejandro Chafuen	Atlas Economic Research Foundation	USA
Hernan Büchi	Instituto Libertad y Desarrollo	Chile
Lynn Scarlett	Reason Foundation	USA
Sally Pipes	Pacific Research Institute	USA
Calvin Beisner	Covenant College	USA
Jo Kwong	Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Terry Anderson	PERC	USA
Harry Teasley	Former President, Coca Cola Nestle Refreshments Company	USA
Roy Mecklenburg	Walt Disney World	USA
Monica Ozores-Hampton	University of Florida	USA
Moderator: Deroy Murdock	Atlas Economic Research Foundation	USA
Fred Smith	Competitive Enterprise Institute	USA
Harvey Alter	Chamber of Commerce	USA
Henry Miller	Hoover Institute	USA
Roger Bate	Institute of Economic Affairs	United Kingdom
Enrique Ghersi	CITEL	Peru
Roberto Fendt	Instituto Liberal	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Patricia Vasquez	Fundacion Republica	Argentina
Harvey Alter	Chamber of Commerce	USA
Charles Stitt	Former Deputy Mayor, City of Indianapolis	USA
Luis Diaz	CalRecovery, Inc.	USA
Doug Reichlan	United Water Services	USA
Maria Isabel Di Mare	Universidad Autonoma de Centro America	Costa Rica
Fernando Von Zuben	CEMPRE	Brazil
Arturo Davila	Procesa	Mexico
Ana Maria Garmendia	SUSTENTA	Mexico
Hon. Armando Ribas	Former Member of Congress, Argentina	Argentina

Atlas Network Members/Partners

As of 2022, Atlas Network no longer listed individual partners in other countries on its website, however noted that “Atlas Network actively partners with over 500 wholly independent, nonprofit organizations spanning almost 100 countries around the globe because they share our commitment to the principles of a free society.”²⁹

While more recent directories have listed groups as “partners” of Atlas, older versions of Atlas’s “Freedom Directory” suggested not all groups may be direct members of Atlas.³⁰

For example, a 2005 version of the directory included the following description:³¹

“The Atlas Economic Research Foundation maintains this Freedom Directory as a service to market-oriented institutes and their interested constituents. It provides contact and program information about think tanks that have shared in Atlas’s work or that pursue a similar vision.”

It also adds this disclaimer:

“Atlas’s Freedom Directory compiles information on more than 450 think tanks worldwide. The Directory’s default settings assume users want to search our broadest universe of active think tanks. This may result in listings of institutes that Atlas has not worked with in the past, which may differ in important ways from most market-oriented think tanks.”

The below Atlas Network list is based on a combination of member listings still available on the Internet Archive. There may be gaps in data given not every year was captured by the Internet Archive.

You can also view the above data as a spreadsheet (.xlsx).³² ³³

Atlas Network Contact & Location

As of June 2016, Atlas Network listed the following contact information on its website:³⁴

Atlas Network
1201 L Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
T+ 202.449.8449
F+ 202.280.1259

Giving Opportunities
Chelsea Schick, 202-449-8434

Press Inquiries
Daniel Anthony, 202-449-8441

International Policy Network UK (IPN) — Same entity as Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK). The U.S. organization does not appear to be directly affiliated.
Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)
Network for a Free Society — New name for International Policy Network (UK)

“Atlas Sings Fred’s Song: A Duet in Duplicity” — Aug 18, 2006
“Exxon’s $2.4 million ventriloquist act” — Sep 26, 2006
“Research on the “sponsors” behind the Heartland’s New York Climate Change Conference” — Feb 24, 2009
“Atlas Shrugs as Exxon Launches New Blitz of False Prophets” — Feb 07, 2010
“Partisanship and Disinformation Surrounding Global Warming Taking their Toll” — Mar 13, 2010
“Denial-a-palooza Round 4: ‘International Conference on Climate Change’ Groups Funded by Exxon, Koch Industries” — May 13, 2010
“ExxonMobil Gave $1.5M to Climate Denier Groups Last Year, Breaking Its Pledge To Stop Funding Denial Machine” — Jul 19, 2010
“Denial-a-Palooza 6: Heartland’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, Courtesy of Koch, Scaife & Exxon” — Jun 30, 2011
“U.S. Republican Koch oil billionaires help fund the Fraser Institute. Why the Fraser Institute?” — Apr 28, 2012
“Heartland Denial-a-Palooza Sponsors Have Received $67 Million From ExxonMobil, Koch and Scaife Foundations” — May 22, 2012
“Exclusive: Mont Pelerin Society Revealed As Home To Leading Pushers Of Climate Science Denial” — Jan 15, 2014
“Mont Pelerin Society A Window Into Ideological Heart Of Kochtopus Climate Denial” — Jan 27, 2014
“Major Disasters Linked to Extreme Weather, Climate and Water Hazards On the Rise” — Aug 18, 2014
“Exclusive: Oil and Tobacco Explain Funding of Neoliberalism” — Oct 03, 2014
“Blundell: The Missing Link Between Oil Baron Charles Koch and British Climate Denial” — Nov 29, 2014
“The Kochtopus Spreads its Tentacles To Strangle Climate Science” — Dec 03, 2014
“How Ned Flanders Stoked Climate Denial” — Jan 06, 2015
“How Two Young Students Took the Climate Denial Bate” — Jan 07, 2015
“That Time a Tobacco Tycoon Halved Funding to a Think Tank That Dared Fire His Chosen Boss” — Jan 17, 2015
“How Tobacco Shills Inspired Climate Denial” — Feb 04, 2015
“You Will Never Guess Who Was Really Behind Britain’s First Climate Denial Propaganda…” — Feb 07, 2015
“How ExxonMobil’s Spending Bonanza Helped Two British Climate Sceptics Set-Up An International Free Market Think Tank” — May 05, 2015
“Revealed: The Inside Story of The Great Global Warming Swindle” — Aug 11, 2015
“Introducing the Corporate Front Groups That Helped Win a Supreme Court Stay of Obama’s Clean Power Plan” — Feb 18, 2016
“ExxonMobil: New Disclosures Show Oil Giant Still Funding Climate Science Denial Groups” — Jul 08, 2016
“How US Senators’ #WebofDenial Helped Spawn and Sustain Climate Science Denial in the UK” — Jul 12, 2016
“Mapped: The UK’s Brexit Climate Denier Network” — Jul 15, 2016
“The Koch and Exxon Funded Think Tanks Supporting, and Being Courted by, Britain’s Brexit Campaigners” — Jul 19, 2016
“New Lobby Group Tied to Brexit Climate Science Deniers and Koch Industries Pushes for Deregulation in Europe” — Jul 20, 2017
“Introducing the Institute for Free Trade: A New Pro-Brexit Thinktank tied to the UK’s Climate Science Denier Network” — Sep 27, 2017
“Shark Tank’s Steve Baxter Joins Climate Science Deniers and Islamophobes for Australian LibertyFest” — Oct 12, 2017
“How the Mont Pelerin Society ‘Neoliberal Thought Collective’ Is Influencing Donald Trump’s Presidency” — Nov 29, 2017
“These are the Climate Science Denier MPs Lobbying for a Hard Brexit” — Feb 09, 2018
“Trans-Atlantic Network of Hard Brexit Climate Science Deniers Plotting ‘Shadow’ US-UK Trade Talks” — Feb 18, 2018
“Exposed: The Tory-Trump Plan to Kill Food Safety with Brexit Chicken” — Feb 23, 2018
“Revealed: Liam Fox’s Trade Department is Taking Advice from ‘Experts’ with Links to Climate Science Denial Networks” — Mar 22, 2018
“Billionaire Mining Magnate Gina Rinehart Revealed As Key Donor to Australian Climate Science Denial Promoter Institute of Public Affairs” — Jul 17, 2018
“Senior Vote Leave Members Join Forces to Create a ‘Museum of Communist Terror’ In The UK” — Nov 13, 2018
“Matthew and Sarah Elliott: How a UK Power Couple Links US Libertarians and Fossil Fuel Lobbyists to Brexit” — Nov 18, 2018
“Revealed: How the Tobacco and Fossil Fuel Industries Fund Disinformation Campaigns Around the World” — Feb 19, 2019
“On Health of the Great Barrier Reef and Case of Sacked Scientist Peter Ridd, Sky News Creates Alternate Reality” — Apr 04, 2019
“Mapped: A Who’s Who of Brexit and Climate Science Denial” — Jun 07, 2019
“DeSmog’s Pro-Brexit Climate Science Denier Map — A User’s Guide” — Jun 07, 2019
“How Dark Money From Overseas Flows Into Boris Johnson’s Government” — Aug 27, 2019
“Climate Science Deniers Planning European Misinformation Campaign, Leaked Documents Reveal” — Sep 06, 2019
“How the Climategate Email Hack Laid the Foundations for the Fake News Era” — Nov 18, 2019
“These Agribusiness Groups With Ties to Climate Denial are Trying to Influence the US-UK Trade Deal” — Sep 23, 2020
“A Right-Wing Think Tank Is Behind the Controversial Great Barrington Declaration Calling for COVID-19 Herd Immunity” — Oct 26, 2020
“This ‘Gas Wizard’ Forecaster Peddles More Than Price Advice” — Jul 07, 2022
“Climate ‘Leader’ Netflix Donated to Pro-Pipeline, Koch-Supported Think Tank” — Jul 26, 2022
“To Save the Amazon, Lula Must Defeat an Old Foe” — Nov 04, 2022
“Heritage Foundation Hosts UK Climate Science Denier at Event Opposing ‘Green Energy’” — Dec 16, 2022
“Organizers of Global Gas Conference ‘Refuse’ Entry to DeSmog Reporter” — Jul 10, 2023
“US Oil-Linked Pressure Group Attacks EU Green Policies, Breaks Lobbying Rules” — Jul 12, 2023
“The Atlas Network and the Building of Argentina’s Donald Trump” — Aug 22, 2023
“In Brazil, Right-Wing Think Tanks Align with Agribusiness to Seek a Path Back to Power” — Aug 25, 2023
“Meet the Shadowy Network Vilifying Climate Protestors” — Sep 12, 2023
“A Secretive Network Is Fighting Indigenous Rights in Australia and Canada, Expert Says” — Oct 10, 2023
“Former BP Scientist Steve Koonin Claims Climate Journalists Are Spreading ‘Hysteria’” — Nov 10, 2023

@AtlasNetwork on Twitter.
“Atlas Network” on LinkedIn.

Other Resources

“Atlas Economic Research Foundation – Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace. Archived May 5, 2012.
Greenpeace research documents for the Atlas Economic Research Foundation.

Resources

1
“Our Story,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived August 11, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/G4CKh
2
“Network for a Free Society (previously Atlas Economic Research Foundation (UK) working as The International Policy Network UK) Annual Report and Financial Statements” (PDF), Year ended 31 December 2010. Charity no: 262982. Retrieved from UK Charity Commission.
3
“Atlas Economic Research Foundation,” SourceWatch profile.
4
“Our Story,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived August 11, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/G4CKh
5
“FAQ,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived August 11, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/JHRYb
6
Anne-Sophie Simpère. “‘A Valuable And Generous Ally’: How Exxon and Atlas Network Worked to Block Global Climate Action,” DeSmog, December 9, 2024.
7
Brad Lips. “Defeating Piketty’s Charge – A working paper” (PDF), Atlas Network, November, 2014. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
8
“Our Story,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived August 11, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/G4CKh
9
“Annual Reports & Financials,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived August 11, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/ofbBB
10
“Atlas Economic Research Foundation,” Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 11, 2015.
11
“Atlas Economic Research Foundation: the think-tank breeders,” PR Watch, Third Quarter 2004, Volume 11, No. 3. Archived February 13, 2006. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/caslg
12
ExxonSecrets Factsheet: Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Atlas; AERF. Archived June 28, 2017.
13
“Atlas Network: Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace USA. Archived March 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Uw3F4
14
“Atlas Network: Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group,” Greenpeace USA. Archived March 14, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Uw3F4
15
Nick Surgey. “Peabody Coal Bankruptcy Reveals Climate Denial Network Funding,” PRWatch, June 13, 2016. Archived June 20, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/a73wj
16
“In re: Peabody Energy Corporation, et al. Debtors,” United States Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Missouri Eastern Division, Case 16-42529, May 27, 2016. Retrieved from DocumentCloud.
17
Farron Cousins. “Court Documents Show Coal Giant Peabody Energy Funded Dozens Of Climate Denial Groups,” DeSmog, June 13, 2016.
18
Suzanne Goldenberg and Helena Bengtsson. “Biggest US coal company funded dozens of groups questioning climate change,” The Guardian, June 13, 2016. Archived June 20, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/pw7On
19
4th International Conference on Climate Change Conference Program (PDF), The Heartland Institute.
20
Brendan DeMelle. ” Denial-a-palooza Round 4: ‘International Conference on Climate Change’ Groups Funded by Exxon, Koch Industries ,” DeSmog, May 13, 2010.
21
“Co-Sponsors,” Third International Conference on Climate Change. Archived July 14, 2010. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/7M3LQ
22
(Press Release). “Recipients of 2009 Fisher Venture Grants,” Atlas Network, April 15, 2009. Archived January 22, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/zQWwR
23
“Koch Industries Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine” (PDF), Greenpeace, March, 2010.
24
“Co-Sponsors,” The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. Archived April 28, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/8pEf7
25
“Heartland Institute’s 2009 Climate Conference in New York: funding history of the sponsors,” DeSmog.
26
“Poverty and the Environment: Global Lessons – Local Solutions,” Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ckbbb
27
“Poverty and the Environment: Global Lessons – Local Solutions,” Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ckbbb
28
“Poverty and the Environment: Global Lessons – Local Solutions,” Atlas-fdn.org. Archived February 4, 1998. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/Ckbbb
29
“Over 500 partners in almost 100 countries around the globe,” Atlas Network. Archived January 14, 2022. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/E4iLQ
30
“Global Directory,” Atlas Network, Archived December 19, 2020. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/qBwpL
31
“Freedom Directory,” Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Archived April 11, 2005. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/51fM9
32
“Global Directory,” Atlas Network. Archived April 13, 2016. Archived .pdf (2016-05-10) on file at DeSmog.
33
“Global Directory,” Atlas Network. Accessed July 8, 2017. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmogBlog.
34
“Contact,” Atlas Network. Archived June 29, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/urCJz

DeSmog

DeSmog

Atlas Network

Atlas Network (Atlas Economic Research Foundation)

Background

Stance on Climate Change