By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, (Bono), May 5, GNA – Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation (GloMeF) has urged the media to use their pens and airwaves to tackle environmental ills that increase people’s vulnerabilities.
As the Ghana joins the rest of the world to mark the 2025 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), Mr Ahenu reminded that the “power of the press lies not just in storytelling but in story”.
He said GloMeF remained a leading advocacy and media-based non-profit organisation that worked to promote human rights, environmental sustainability, and community development nationwide.
“We must therefore use our pens and airwaves to tackle environmental degradation, from deforestation and desertification to mining pollution which disproportionately affects the poor and marginalized,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani.
He regretted that despite the devastating impacts of illegal mining and environmental degradation, communities were often “invisible in mainstream media narratives.”
The United Nations General Assembly declared May 3, to be WFPD and observed annually to raise awareness of the importance of the freedom of the press. It also reminds governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The global celebration of the 2025 WPFD focuses on how AI affects press freedom, the free flow of information, media independence, and the global goal of ensuring access to information and protecting fundamental freedoms (SDG 16.10).
Mr Ahenu said the media played a transformative role in shaping national global priorities, saying media served as a powerful tool for justice, development, peace building, and environmental stewardship.
“In an era marked by environmental breakdown, social inequality, and misinformation, the voice of the media is more important than ever,” he stated, and asked the media to put greater investments into environmental journalism to ensure a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.
“Through our programmes at GloMeF we have amplified the voices of affected communities, educated the public on environmental sustainability, and challenged harmful policies,” he stated.
Mr Ahenu indicated that the global development agenda, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), could not succeed without strong and independent media as journalists connected policy to people, and translated technical goals into grassroots action.
“Yet despite their crucial role, environmental journalists are under-supported, underfunded, and frequently under threat,” he stated, announcing that the GloMeF had launched initiatives to train journalists and media practitioners in environmental reporting.
That would empower them to track climate-related corruption and ensure that development narratives include local voices and indigenous knowledge.
“In fact, a development agenda that ignores the environment is incomplete and a media sector that ignores environmental reporting is complicit,” he added.
Mr Ahenu said climate change was not just an environmental issue, but also a peace and security matter, stressing that resource scarcity, displacement, and food insecurity were already contributing to social unrest in many regions.
“The media must therefore tread carefully, but boldly in this space,” he stated, calling for a more responsible reporting that could reduce tensions, correct misinformation, and offer platforms for dialogue and reconciliation.
“GloMeF champions conflict-sensitive environmental journalism, training reporters to navigate complex narratives and promote peace through informed reporting,” Mr Ahenu stated.
GNA
DEN/AD