By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) – This year’s Nobel Peace Prize could go to exiled Belarusian dissident Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, climate activist Greta Thunberg, or a media watchdog such as Reporters without Borders (RSF), Norwegian experts on the prize said on Wednesday.

Five members of the Norwegian parliament select the winner. They will announce it in Oslo, Oct. 8, at 8:15 p.m.

Henrik Urdal from the Peace Research Institute Oslo, stated that the top contenders included groups fighting freedom of press, such as Paris-based Reporters without Borders or the Committee to Protect Journalists.

He said that the decision resonates with the ongoing debate over the need for independent reporting as well as the fight against fake news to promote democratic governance.

Along with Thunberg the Swedish teenager activist and perhaps the most prominent climate campaigner in the world, recognition could be given to global warming fight.

Asle Sveen (a Nobel Peace Prize historian) stated that “the U.N. Security Council expressed concern about the adverse effects on climate change possibly posing a threat to international peace, security and stability.”

Sveen as well as Urdal correctly predicted the winners of previous Nobel Peace Prizes, even those with a low profile international.

Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian woman of high standing, was also mentioned by both. After being forced to flee her homeland by supporters of a rigged presidential election, she led the opposition against Alexander Lukashenko’s president since then.

“Belarus is home to one of the most brutal regimes and an opposition that has been largely peaceful. Urdal said that the prize would have global resonance and could also be seen to be an expression of concern at what many people see as autocratic backsliding.

While the total 329 nominations will make up the winner this year, the committee won’t reveal the entire list until 50 years.

Although thousands can nominate candidates, from past laureates to members of other countries’ parliaments, recent trends have shown that the winner is usually from those who were proposed by Norwegian lawmakers.

Norwegian parliamentarians surveyed by Reuters have disclosed nominations for both Thunberg and Tsikhanouskaya, as well as jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, U.S. politician Stacey Abrams https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-prize-peace-usa-idUSKBN2A12HY and the World Health Organization.

Paddy Power is betting on the WHO, with odds of 5/4. Navalny (21/10), and Black Lives Matter are next (5/1).