Information as an indispensable tool for reducing negative impacts on society and community awareness was one of the central points of the panel during the XIV International Congress on Human Rights, on the afternoon of Thursday (October 20th), in the auditorium of the Court of Justice of the State of Tocantins (TJTO) in Palmas (TO).
With the “Globalization and post-pandemic social economic and environmental responsibility”, panelists addressed specific topics, but both introduced communication in many moments of their presentations. The mediator was Liliana Pena Naval, PhD in chemical engineering from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and professor of the Master’s degree in Judicial Provision and Human Rights UFT/Esmat.
PhD in Environmental Engineering from the New University of Lisbon and Master in Coastal Zone Sciences from the University of Aveiro, addressed the topic on “The new information traps in the environmental impact assessment. The role of the individual in the reality of post-truth and contradictory social values”.
Distorted Information
For him, the access to information is essential and currently, in the “post-truth context of pandemic and war” the mechanism has been distorted. When talking about environmental impacts, he detailed that the “decline in official data and the credibility of information” has damaged the relationship of communication today. “Objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion. And technical information is not easily accessible and usable.”
For him, it is necessary to rethink the “current state of the used and communicated information in impact assessment in order to build visions that can reshape this reality.” “Data and information have a key role to play in the crisis of truth. There you must equate information and connection with new tools,” he stressed, concluding that the whole system revolves around the perception of valuing and understanding the desires and needs of the community and the individual.
Erosion of Human Rights
Another panelist was Antônio Augusto Ioris, professor, post-doctorate in political geography and director of the post-graduate program in development and environment at Cardiff University, in the UK. Among other aspects, he approached democracy in the post-pandemic, and explained the current situation in the UK and Brazil
He criticized what he called the "erosion of basic human rights." "The pandemic brought an acute vulnerability [of society]. A moment that demonstrated the degrading and degraded condition by the Brazilian population," he said, while criticizing the political use of the issue.
Regarding human rights specifically, he cited that “there have been more formal than effective achievements”, To finalize, he cited some examples of good perspectives for improvement in the aspects of access to human rights.
