World Press Freedom Day Geneva 2024

WPFD 2024 will be dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis. It aims to highlight the significant role that the press, journalism, and access to information play to ensure and secure a sustainable future that respects the rights of individuals, the diversity of their voices, and gender equality. 

In this context, UNESCO, UNEP, WHO, OHCHR, the Permanent Mission of Austria to Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Chile to Geneva, and the Geneva Press Club, will organize a WPFD event on the 7th of May from 15:00-18:00 in the Palais des Nations, Room XXIII. 

The event will focus on science communication in shaping public understanding and policymaking regarding environmental issues, strategies to ensure the dissemination of accurate and reliable information, combating climate disinformation, corporate capture and greenwashing, addressing misinformation and disinformation in environmental reporting, and safeguarding journalists and scientists, particularly women, against the specific challenges and threats they encounter in these fields. Independent journalists and scientists are crucial actors in helping our societies separate facts from fiction and take informed decisions. 

They play a crucial role in sustainable development by producing and disseminating reliable scientific information on environmental crises and stemming the floods of disinformation. In the context of the current global environmental crisis, dis-/misinformation campaigns challenge knowledge and scientific research methods. Attacks on the validity of science pose a serious threat to pluralistic and informed public debate.