World Press Freedom Day will be celebrated this Friday, May 3, 2024, all over the world. With this, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent an important message to journalists.
Here is the statement in full:
The world is experiencing an unprecedented environmental emergency that threatens the very existence of this and future generations.
Everyone needs to know this, and journalists and media professionals have a key role to play in this regard, by informing and educating.
Local, national and international media can put the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and environmental injustice in the spotlight.
Thanks to this work, people come to understand the critical situation facing our planet, mobilize and have the means to act for change.
Media professionals also show environmental degradation. And in the face of environmental vandalism, they provide evidence that helps hold those responsible to account for their actions.
It’s no surprise that powerful people, companies and institutions will stop at nothing to prevent environmental journalists from doing their jobs.
Media freedom is under attack from all sides. And environmental journalism is an increasingly dangerous profession.
Dozens of journalists who covered topics such as illegal mining or logging, poaching or other environmental issues have been killed in recent decades.
In the vast majority of cases, no one was held accountable.
UNESCO reports that some 750 journalists or media outlets reporting on environmental issues have been attacked in the past 15 years. And the frequency of these attacks is increasing.
There are also legal actions, which are used to censor, silence, arrest and harass these journalists, while the propagators of false information on the climate, who are now legion, continue to undermine solutions which have proven themselves, particularly renewable energies.
But environmental journalists are not the only ones in danger.
Around the world, media professionals are risking their lives to try to inform us on everything from war to democracy.
I am shocked and dismayed by the number of journalists who have been killed during Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The United Nations salutes the extremely valuable work that journalists and media professionals do to keep the public informed and engaged.
Without facts, we cannot fight misinformation and disinformation. Without accountability, we will not have strong policies.
Without freedom of the press, we will have no freedom.
Freedom of the press is not a choice, it is a necessity.
Our World Press Freedom Day is very important. I therefore call on governments, the private sector and civil society to join us as we reaffirm our commitment to protecting press freedom and the rights of journalists and media workers everywhere.
