A report by Global Witness points to a surge in deaths of environmentalists over the last decade. The report, Deadly Environment, looks at known killings of people defending environmental and land rights. It identifies a clear rise in such deaths from 2002 and 2013 as competition for natural resources intensifies.
Check full report available below.
In the most comprehensive global analysis of the problem on record, Global Witness found that at least 908 people have died in this time. Disputes over industrial logging, mining and land rights are the key drivers, and Latin America and Asia-Pacific particularly hard hit.
Deadly Environment also highlights a severe shortage of information or monitoring of this problem, meaning the total is likely to be higher than the report documents. This lack of attention is feeding endemic levels of impunity, with just over one per cent of the perpetrators known to have been convicted, according to Global Witness.
Overall, the report shows how it has never been more important to protect the environment, and it has never been more deadly. It calls on national governments and the international community to act urgently to protect the environment and the citizens who defend it.
Global Witness campaigns to end the unfair and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, so that all can thrive within the planet’s boundaries. We address the root causes of the exploitation that destroys lives and threatens life-supporting ecosystems.
The key findings in Deadly Environment are as follows:
– At least 908 people were killed in 35 countries protecting rights to land and the environment
between 2002 and 2013, with the death rate rising in the last four years to an average of two activists a week.
– 2012 was the worst year so far to be an environmental defender, with 147 killings – nearly three times more than in 2002.
– Impunity for these crimes is rife: only 10 perpetrators are known to have been convicted between 2002 and 2013 – just over one per cent of the overall incidence of killings.
– The problem is particularly acute in Latin America and South East Asia. Brazil is the most
dangerous place to defend rights to land and the environment, with 448 killings, followed by
Honduras (109) and the Philippines (67).
John Knox, UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment said, “Human rights only have meaning if people are able to exercise them. Environmental human rights defenders work to ensure that we live in an environment that enables us to enjoy our basic rights, including rights to life and health. The international community must do more to protect them from the violence and harassment they face as a result.”
Indigenous communities are particularly hard hit. In many cases, their land rights are not recognized by law or in practice, leaving them open to exploitation by powerful economic interests who brand them as ‘anti-development’. Often, the first they know of a deal that goes against their interests is when the bulldozers arrive in their farms and forests.
Land rights form the backdrop to most of the known killings, as companies and governments routinely strike secretive deals for large chunks of land and forests to grow cash crops like rubber,
palm oil and soya. At least 661 – over two-thirds – of the killings took place in the context of conflicts over the ownership, control and use of land, in combination with other factors. The report focuses in detail on the situation in Brazil, where land disputes and industrial logging are key drivers, and the Philippines, where violence appears closely linked to the mining sector.
Check out the report here:
