Climate activism in danger

 

Almost 200 people killed worldwide last year trying to defend the environment, report finds

The number of murdered environmental activists, 196, was the highest Global Witness has ever recorded for a single country in any given year since it started monitoring such killings in 2012, it said in its annual report published on Monday.

"The figure is really chilling," Laura Furones, senior adviser to Global Witness' land and environmental defenders campaign, said, adding that the report's findings were conservative and figures likely incomplete.

Globally, 196 environmentalists and land activists were killed in 2023, Global Witness said, with Latin America overwhelmingly leading the way, accounting for 85% of the slayings.

Deadliest practices in Latin America

The annual report from the UK advocacy group Global Witness found Latin America remains the most dangerous part of the world for environmental and land defenders, accounting for 85 percent of the 196 murders documented last year.

The majority were concentrated in just four countries: Colombia, Brazil, Honduras and Mexico.

Colombia was the deadliest country for environmentalists and land rights defenders in 2023, with a record 79 killed, according to Global Witness.

The findings on Colombia are a sharp contrast to promises from the government of President Gustavo Petro, who took office in 2022 and has pledged to end the country's 60-year conflict and pursue environmental justice for communities.

The country was also the host nation for this year's United Nations COP16 biodiversity conference.

Peace processes with various armed groups - which are sometimes implicated in environmentalists' killings - have faltered, and though deforestation fell to a 23-year low last year, the environment ministry has warned of an increase in 2024.

It is "dishonourable" to top the Global Witness list, Colombia's government said in a statement late on Monday.

Colombia was also the deadliest country for environmentalists in 2022, according to Global Witness, when at least 60 were killed.

"The figure is very embarrassing for us in the country," said Astrid Torres, coordinator for Somos Defensores, a Colombian human rights group.

Torres said the issue was not just the responsibility of the sitting government but also of state institutions, such as prosecutors and local authorities.

A 'crackdown on environmental activists'

The report also sounds the alarm on a "crackdown on environmental activists across the UK, Europe and the US", warning "laws are increasingly being weaponised against defenders".

It pointed to legislation in Britain and the United States allowing harsher penalties for protesters and activists facing "draconian levels of surveillance" in the European Union.

In Britain it highlighted the case of activist David Nixon, who served four weeks in jail after defying a judge's order barring him from using climate change as a defence.

"We should be allowed to mention the climate crisis wherever we go, especially in front of a jury," he told news agencies.

Global Witness urged "decisive action" from governments to protect defenders.

Increased dangers in Asia

In Asia, the Philippines continued to be the most dangerous place for environmental and land protection, with 17 murders, and Global Witness highlighted a growing trend of abductions across the region.

This "has emerged as a critical issue, reflecting broader systemic efforts by power holders to suppress dissent and maintain control over land and resources", it said.

Among those affected were Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, two young activists opposed to land reclamation projects in Manila Bay in the Philippines.

They have accused the military of abducting them, though authorities claim the women belonged to a communist insurgency and had sought help after leaving the movement.

"Since our release, the threats have continued," the pair said in the report.

Underestimated figures

In Africa, Global Witness recorded just four deaths, but warned the figure was likely a "gross underestimate" given the challenge of collecting information.

Across the world, Indigenous Peoples, who have accumulated wisdom, knowledge, and practices for millennia, are also targeted.

Global Witness warns that, all over the globe, governments and corporations are increasingly wielding the law to suppress environmental activism.

"Activists and their communities are essential in efforts to prevent and remedy harms caused by climate damaging industries," said the report's lead author Laura Furones.

"We cannot afford to, nor should we tolerate, losing any more lives," she added.