UN General Assembly
2024

We must not forget that words and those who speak them — including traditional and social media —remain the most powerful weapons — determiners of good and evil. They can both fortify or disrupt unity and trust in our societies and communities. They can promote tolerance or spread hatred. It is of utter importance that we speak out against those who abuse words by giving them alternate or even opposite meanings. Promoting information integrity should be high on our priority list. The global debate on climate change is a good example proving we can do this. The denying of climate change and its evidence by renowned scientific teams around the world — quite common until recently — is in the face of increasingly destructive climate conditions and disasters now obscure even in the most marginal opinion groups.