“Amnesty International and Greenpeace International: States must abide by their human rights obligations in all aspects related to climate change. They must end all forms of discrimination and guarantee gender equality; guarantee the right to information; ensure the right to participation of affected people; and ensure the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.” (Joint Statement: Greenpeace – Amnesty International. December 8th 2015).
======================================================================
Note from author: In (Western) democracies, citizens are used to freedom of speech, which is, however, not the case in many countries around the world. According to a survey conducted by PEW RESEARCH CENTER in 2015 (Spring 2015 Global Attitudes Survey) and with reference to an article with these indicators/results published by the The World Economic Forum (WEF), the United States ranks as number 1. globally regarding freedom of speech. Where Finland and the other Nordic countries rank according to this particular survey from 2015 is unclear. Furthermore, according to Reporters Without Borders´ Press Freedom Index 2013, Finland ranks as the best nation in the world when it comes to press and speech freedom. As a citizen of a county where you can freely and safely express yourself, it is not always easy to understand how different the situation is in many other countries around the world.
Connect with me on Twitter @annemariayritys – for climate-related posts only @GCCThinkActTank & to receive my articles/posts delivered personally to you, do subscribe to my newsletter at Leading With Passion – thank you.
Anne-Maria Yritys 