Today, 28 September 2025, the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) joins the global community in marking the International Day for Universal Access to Information. The theme this year, “Ensuring Access to Environmental Information in the Digital Age”, reminds us that information is not simply a resource but a lifeline. Nowhere is this more evident than in Africa, where the climate crisis is already taking a heavy toll on the lives and livelihood of the majority of the citizens of the continent.
Across the continent, droughts, floods, shifting rainfall patterns and desertification are destabilizing communities, undermining food security, destroying jobs and disrupting lives. The impact is not only material but also social, as uncertainty and insecurity grow. When citizens are denied reliable climate and environmental information, they are left unable to prepare, to make informed decisions or to hold leaders accountable. This lack of access deepens vulnerabilities and weakens the very foundations of justice and fairness.
To break this cycle, information integrity must be placed at the heart of Africa’s response to the climate crisis. Disinformation, misinformation, distortion and secrecy are as damaging as climate impacts themselves because they erode trust and impede reasonable initiatives. Citizens need accurate, trustworthy, timely and verifiable data if they are to distinguish fact from falsehood, participate in just transitions, demand responsible use of climate finance and insist on accountability from decision makers. Without integrity in climate information, public engagement will falter and collective action will fail.
This is why FAJ urges the African Union (AU), its member states, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), multilateral institutions, the media community and wider civil society to fully implement the Addis Ababa Declaration on Media, Climate, Peace, Security and Justice, adopted at the Pre-Summit Forum to the Second Africa Climate Summit (6 – 7 September 2025). The Declaration recognises the role of the media as a catalyst in advancing Africa’s climate, peace and security agenda. It also warns that disinformation, misinformation and weak data ecosystems threaten cohesion, fuel conflict and undermine prevention. Upholding information integrity, strengthening fact-checking and reporting with accuracy are therefore essential to protect both democracy and peace.
While the Declaration sets an important direction, it must be followed by practical and concerted action. For just transitions to move from promise to practice, citizens must be informed, included and empowered. Laws that guarantee access to information provide a framework, but they must be matched with transparency, strong institutions and infrastructure that allow data to be collected, verified and shared. Governments must ensure that platforms are accessible and that capacity building reaches all communities, including the working poor, rural populations and those most marginalised. Only when citizens can examine climate plans, energy policies, climate finance, adaptation strategies and risk assessments will they be able to influence decisions and secure a fair and equitable transition.
The link between climate, peace and security makes this even more urgent. As climate pressures intensify competition for land and water, drive migration and strain livelihoods, access to credible information becomes a shield against fear, division and instability. Without reliable data, citizens are left vulnerable to rumours, manipulation and even violence. Strengthening information integrity is not optional, it is essential at every level.
“If climate information is tainted or deliberately twisted, trust is broken, climate justice collapses and people are suffocated. In Africa, citizens must have access to climate and environmental information they can trust. When upheld with integrity, information empowers people to question, to demand accountability, to ensure that climate challenges do not undermine peace and security and to drive the just transitions they so urgently need,” said Omar Faruk Osman, FAJ President.
FAJ and its affiliated unions and associations reaffirm their commitment to championing access to information, advancing information integrity, defending media freedoms and supporting communities across Africa as they confront the climate crisis.
On this day, FAJ insists that open, accurate and credible information must be recognised not as a privilege but as the foundation of climate justice, resilience, security and democratic dignity.
